Tove of the Obrodrites, married to Harald 1. Bluetooth

Danish Queens for a Thousand Years

Tove of the Obodrites, also called Tova, Tofa or Thora, (ab. 970) was a Slavic princess.

Tove was married to Harald Bluetooth, (ab. 970). (see article Harald Gormsen/ Harald Bluetooth)

Tove, her name carved in runes as   ᛏᚢᚠᛅ,  was the daughter of Prince Mistivir/Mistivoj of the Obodrites/ Obotrites,(ab. 990), a region als known as Wendland. It is not known if she had any children or not. She is known from the runestone in Sønder Vissing kirke ( in Jutland), carved in memory of her mother.

Text: ”Tofa (Tove), Mistivojs datter, Harald den Godes, Gorms søns kone, lod gøre dette dødeminde efter sin moder."  

Mistive must be the Obodriter Prince Mistivoj whose most famous act was the plunder of the city Hamburg in 983. The Obodrites was a Slavic people living near the Danish border and it seems that Harald and Mistivoj had formed an alliance in order to avoid German protrusion north of the Elb. 

Sources: Danske dronninger i tusind år , Steffen Heiberg/ and wikipedia. 

 

Tove's father Mistivoj:

Battle at Stilo

Mistivoj/Mstivoj (935? - 995) was an Obodrite prince (princeps Winulorum) from 965 or 967 until his death. He inherited his position along with his brother Mstidrag from their father Nako in an unknown year. Mstiwoj is an old Slavic name popular among west slavs and East slavs, cognate with the slavic word for vengeance . Thus the name has meaning "Avenger of warriors" or "Avenger warrior".  The Christian name of Mistivoj was Billung - baptised after his probable godfather Hermann Billung.

In 983, the brothers were leaders of the great Slavic revolt, which German historiography labels the Slawenaufstand, which followed news of the Emperor Otto II's defeat at the Battle of Stilo. He raided far to the west and even destroyed the relatively new city of Hamburg that year. There are two accounts of his life and his reasons for abandoning Christianity.

According to Adam of Bremen: A Slavic prince named Billung married the beautiful sister of Bishop Wago of Starigard and had with her a daughter Hodica and a son Mstislav, whom he, taking advantage of his jealousy of the Saxons, goaded into hatred of Christianity and his mother until, having so
offended his wife, he began to connive against Christianity and the bishops.

According to Helmold: Duke Herman Billung [actually Duke Bernard I) promised a niece of his to Mstivoj [or Mstivoj requested] if he accompanied him on campaign to Italy. That Mstivoj did and upon returning reminded him of the promise. Then Dietrich of Haldensleben proclaimed that "the high-born niece of a great prince may not be given to a dog," whereupon Mstivoj, recruiting the Liutizi to aid him, devastated Nordalbingia with fire and sword.

Helmold also justifies the Slavic rebellion repeatedly by citing the excessive greed of the Saxons.

Mstivoj's daughter Tove married Harald Bluetooth and raised the Sønder Vissing Runestone in memory of her mother. Another daughter, Hodica, was abbess of the monastery at the Mecklenburg. Mstivoj also had a son, Mstislaw, often being confused with his similarly named father.

Sources: Jacobsen, Lis. "Kong Haralds og Kong Gorms Jellingmonumenter." Scandia, IV. Lund, 1931. p. 264.

 

Obodrite territory

The Obodrites/Obotrites:

 The Obodrites or Obotrites, also spelled Abodrites were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany . For decades, they were allies of Charlemagne in his wars against the Germanic Saxons and the Slavic Veleti. The Obotrites under Prince Thrasco defeated the Saxons in the Battle of Bornhöved (798). The still heathen Saxons were dispersed by the emperor, and the part of their former land in Holstein north of Elbe was awarded to the Obotrites in 804, as a reward for their victory. This however was soon reverted through an invasion of the Danes. The Obotrite regnal style was abolished in 1167, when Pribislav was restored to power by Duke Henry the Lion, as Prince of Mecklenburg, thereby founding the German House of Mecklenburg.

As allies of the Carolingian kings and the empire of their Ottonian successors, the Obotrites fought from 808 to 1200 against the kings of Denmark, who wished to rule the Baltic region independently of the empire. When opportunities arose, for instance upon the death of an emperor, they would seek to seize power; and in 983 Hamburg was destroyed by the Obotrites under their king, Mstivoj. At times they levied tribute from the Danes and Saxons. Under the leadership of Niklot, they resisted a Christian assault during the Wendish Crusade.

German missionaries such as Vicelinus converted the Obotrites to Christianity. In 1170 they acknowledged the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Empire, leading to Germanisation and assimilation over the following centuries. However, up to the late 15th century most villagers in the Obotritic area were still speaking Slavic dialects, although subsequently their language was displaced by German. The Polabian language survived until the beginning of the 19th century in Hanoverian Wendland, eastern Lower Saxony (bordering modern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). The ruling clan of the Obotrites kept its power throughout the Germanisation and ruled their country (except during a short interruption in Thirty Year's War) as House of Mecklenburg until the end of monarchies in Germany in November Revolution 1918. 

Jensen, Carsten Selch (2006)."Abodrites" (PDF). In Alan V. Murray (ed.). The Crusades: An Encyclopedia.

Knud Lavard was murdered at Christmas in 1130

Knud Eriksson Lavard
* March 12. 1096 + January 7. 1131


Sct.Bendts Church, Ringsted, Zealand

Knud was a son of Erik 1. Ejegod and Bodil Thrugotsdatter. After his parents' death on a pilgrimage the seven year old Knud was first brought up by the legendary Zealand chief Skjalm Hvide and later by Herzog Lothar of Saxony, who became German king in 1125. Knud was married to Ingeborg of Russia in 1116; she was a daughter of Grossfürst Mstislav 1. of Kiev and Christina of Sweden, and about the same time , when he was about 20 years old, he became Jarl of the border and Hertug of Schleswig. His mission was to protect the merchants and the trade routes against the Wends, which he did so successfully that the merchants appointed him their patron protector. His byname Lavard was a name of honour; the word originated from Old English hlaford = Lord. It meant Lord(Herre) in Saxon and other Germanic languages - the original meaning was bread giver.

In the beginning of the 1100s Henrik Gottskalkssøn, a son of the Abodrit knés Gottskalk, threatened the Danish south border, since king Niels, his mother's brother, would not pay the inheritance after his mother Sigrid, a daughter of Svend Estridssen. Knud Lavard fought for some years several times against Henrik, until a peace was contracted between Danes and Abodrits. After Henrik Gottskalkssøn's death Knud became - with the assistance from king Lothar - Henrik's successor as knés over the Abodrits under Saxon superiority. Knud Lavard was in this way both the Danish and German king's vassal.

As a son of king Erik 1. Ejegod Knud Lavard was an obvious candidate to the Danish throne, also because he had important and friendly contacts to king Lothar and the Wends, but others were more than interested in the royal power. Among those were his cousin Magnus, a son of king Niels - and another cousin, Henrik Skadelaar, a son of Svend, who like Niels and Erik Ejegod was a son of Svend Estridssen. Svend had been desperate for gaining the Danish crown, but he died on 1104 on his way to Viborg Thing. Henrik had inherited his father's dream; he conspired with Magnus against Knud Lavard for years.


Roskilde Cathedral, ZealandIt all started seemingly peaceful Christmas 1130 in a cosy get-together of the royal family. King Niels, who was about 66 years old, had gathered some of his family in Roskilde. At that point his queen, Margrethe Fredkulla had been gone long ago, it is said she died about 1117. The family members assembled that Christmas might have been Magnus and his wife, Richiza of Poland and their children; Henrik Skadelaar was probably alone, since his wife Ingerid, who was a brother's daughter of Margrethe Fredkulla, had run away with her lover - unless he had brought her back again. The story says he found her in Aalborg. They had three sons.The special Christmas guests were Knud Lavard and his pregnant wife, Ingeborg, and possibly their three daughters, Margrethe, Christina and Cathrine, the eldest was about 13-14 years old. Ingeborg's mother, Christina,was a sister of Margrethe Fredkulla - everyone in these Christmas days were closely related - and yet something sinister went on underneath the surface.

Margrethe was known to be a peacemaker. Her byname Fredkulla meant "The Peace Girl", and while she lived, she had probably enough to do keeping peace among Svend Estridssen's strong willed sons and grandsons. A source says that she had made bad blood between Magnus and Knud Lavard, but it was more plausible Henrik Skadelaar, who intrigued with Magnus against Knud. Henrik was often mentioned as a bitter person, filled with envy and hate against Knud Lavard.Knud was blamed for his royal behaviour and luxurious "foreign" clothes; it was not suitable to outshine the king himself. Maybe it was on this Christmas holiday that Henrik exclaimed that Scarlet clothes would never secure Knud against a sword, to which Knud replied that Henrik was not at all safer in his sheepskins.



After the visit in Roskilde Knud Lavard and his wife and daughters went to visit another kinsman, a daughter of Knud the Holy, Cæcilia and her husband Erik Jarl on their manor house near Haraldsted Church north of Ringsted. Cæcilia and Erik had strong family ties to the powerful Hvide family, since their daughter Inge was married to Skjalm Hvide's son Asser Rig (Ryg). Inge and Asser had two little sons, Absalon was two and Esbern(Snare) three years old. They didn't know yet, but they would soon become the sworn brothers of Knud and Ingeborg's son Valdemar.

While Knud Lavard and Ingeborg were guests by Cæcilia and Erik Jarl, Magnus summoned Knud for a friendly meeting in Haraldsted Forest on January 7th. Ingeborg was suspicious and tried to persuade her husband not to go, but Knud suspected no foul play. He went off with only a few men and straight into an ambush, in which he was murdered by Magnus and his men on the day after Twelfth Night.


Haraldsted Church, Zealand

It is easy to imagine the horror and grief in Knud Lavard's family. Cæcilia asked - probably on behalf of the shocked Ingeborg - that Knud's body should be brought to Haraldsted Church and buried there, but some days later his coffin was carried to Ringsted. On January 14th, seven days after her husband's murder, Ingeborg gave birth to a son, who was named Valdemar after her grandfather, Grand Prince Vladimir Monomachos of Kijev.

Ingeborg spent probably some time by the family in Haraldsted, and she decided that it would be safest for her son to be brought up in the strong and loyal Hvide family like his father before him. Years later she made another important decision for her son. On September 18th in 1137 king Erik 2. Emune was murdered, and the chief Kristiern Svendsen, a cousin of Knud Lavard and one of the mightiest men in the country, wanted the six year old Valdemar pronounced king of Denmark, but Ingeborg opposed strongly and did not give her consent.


Sct. Bendts Church, Ringsted, Zealand

After Knud Lavard's murder the Zealand chiefs held a thing and forced king Niels to send Magnus in exile. Knud's half brother Erik Emune acted as Knud's avenger and was pronounced king in Skaane. Henrik Skadelaar still worked behind scenes and persuaded king Niels to send for his son again, and it was actually Magnus' return, which started several years of bloody civil war between Niels and Magnus on one side and Erik Emune on the other.

Down south the situation was also tense. The German-Roman emperor Lothar (crowned emperor 1133) wanted revenge for the murder of his vassal. In 1134, during the civil wars, the new pope, Innocens, abolished the independence of the Danish Church and placed it under Hamburg-Bremen again. This caused archbishop Asser to join Erik Emune - and so did the migthy Hvide family.

After years of violent civil wars and various victories and defeats it ended on June 4th 1134 in a battle by Fodevig near Lund in Skaane. The battle was a total defeat for Niels and Magnus. Magnus and Henrik Skadelaar were killed, and Niels fled to Schleswig,where he was recognized and killed by the citizens who wanted to revenge Knud Lavard. Erik Emune came on the throne and started at once the efforts to strenghten his legality by having Knud Lavard sainted.


Knud Lavard's chapel, Haraldsted, Zealand

According to tradition a spring welled up where Knud Lavard was murdered - and another spring where the bearers stopped on their way to Ringsted. Soon miracles happened by his grave, and an abbey was founded in 1135 to take care of the grave and help the pious pilgrims, who came to visit. Upon the scene of the murder a chapel was built, which gave good income by pilgrimages.

Finally the Holy See had to acknowledge Knud Lavard as a saint, and in a great ceremony his bones were moved into a glorious shrine upon the high altar of the big - not yet finished abbey church, which later was given the name Sct. Bendts Church. This happened on June 25. 1170, which became Knud Lavard's official Saint's day. At this point Knud's son had gained power long ago. He was crowned sole king in 1157 by the name Valdemar the Great.

photos: grethe bachmann

Gytha Thorgilsdatter ~ Godwin of Wessex

Gytha/Gyda Thorgilsdatter/ Thorkelsdottir (Old English: Gȳða Þorkelsdōttir), also called Githa,  ~ Godwin Wulfnotson of Wessex. ( Old English:  Godƿin)

Gytha -(from wikipedia).

Gytha/Gyda,  –1040–, was a daughter of Thorgils Styrbjørnsson Sprakaleggg/Sprakling and a sister of Ulf Jarl, who was married to Estrid, a daughter of Svend Tveskæg and a sister of Canute the Great. At an expedition in England Ulf was said to have had assistance from Godwin, whom he therefore protected and recommended to his brother-in-law king Canute. He soon learned about Godwin's skills, and Godwin, who had married Gytha ab. 1019, became Earl of Wessex in 1020 and the king's special counselor. Godwin was a skilled warrior, but also ingenious, knowledgeable and of character. He possessed great eloquence and an ability to win people. Gytha seems to have been his equal of character, she held sincere piety and was very charitable to the church and to the poor.

Gytha shared the shifting fate of her husband. Godwin kept his power under Hardicanute and under Edward the Confessor, who married Godwin's daughter Eadgyth/ Edith in 1045. Godwin and his sons, who also were in high positions, were for a period the most distinguished governors of the kingdom. But gradually the French influence began to make an impact on the king, and when Godwin - supported by the public opinion - would not yield to this, he was banished from the country in 1051. He went with his family to Flanders.

When Godwin arrived with a fleet at the coast of England and people joined him, Edward felt obliged to let him return in 1052. Godwin became ill not long after and died 15 April 1053. His son Harald/Harold inherited his position and influence and ascended the throne after Edward's death in 1066. But William of Normandy made his claim, and in the Battle of Senlac (Hastings) the same year Harold was killed together with his two brothers Leofwine and Gyrth. Gytha arrived the day after the battle to William and asked having Harold's body delivered against paying his weight in gold. Her request was rejected.

Godwin's party had still after the conquest of the country a strong support from the western Shires, and during a rebellion in 1068 was Exeter, where Gytha lived, the center of the movement. The city had to surrender to William, but before the gates were opened, Gytha had escaped and sought refuge in some islets in the British Channel. She later went to Saint Omer in Flanders. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Gytha left England after the Norman conquest,  together with the wives or widows and families of other prominent Anglo-Saxons, all the Godwin family estates having been confiscated by William. Little else is known of Gytha's life or future, although it is probable that she went to Scandinavia (like her granddaughter and namesake), where she had relatives. Her surviving (and youngest) son Wulfnoth lived nearly all his life in captivity in Normandy until William the Conqueror's death in 1087. Only her eldest daughter Queen Edith (d. 1075) still held some power (however nominal) as widow of Edward the Confessor. Gytha's year of death is unknown.

Bayeux tapestry (English history.com)

Godwin of Wessex (died 15 April 1053) was one of the most powerful earls in England under the Danish King Canute the Great and his successors. Canute made him the first Earl of Wessex. Godwin was the father of King Harold Godwinson and Edith of Wessex, wife of King Edward the Confessor. Godwin's father was probably Wulfnoth Cild, c. 1014, who was a thegn of Sussex, who is regarded by historians as the probable father of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and thus the grandfather of Harold Godwinson. It is known that Godwin's father was called Wulfnoth, and in the view of Frank Barlow the Godwin family's massive estates in Sussex are indisputable evidence that Wulfnoth was the South Saxon thegn.  His origin is unknown but 'Cild' normally refers to a man of rank. In 1009 Wulfnoth was accused of unknown crimes at a muster of Æthelred the Unready's fleet and fled with twenty ships; the ships sent to pursue him were destroyed in a storm. Godwin was probably an adherent of Æthelred's eldest son, Æthelstan, who left him an estate when he died in 1014. This estate in Compton^, Sussex, had once belonged to Godwin’s father. Although he is now always thought of as connected with Wessex, Godwin had probably been raised in Sussex, not Wessex and was probably a native of Sussex 
 
After Canute seized the throne in 1016, Godwin's rise was rapid. By 1018 he was an Earl, probably of eastern Wessex, and then by around 1020 of all Wessex. Between 1019 and 1023 he accompanied Canute on an expedition to Denmark, where he distinguished himself, and shortly afterwards married Gytha , the sister of the Danish Earl, Ulf, who was married to Canute's sister Estrid. 12 November 1035, Canute died. His kingdoms were divided among three rival rulers. Harold Harefoot, Canute's illegitimate son with Ælfgifu of Northhampton, seized the throne of England. Harthacnut, Canute's legitimate son with Emma of Normandy reigned in Denmark. Norway rebelled under Magnus the Noble. In 1035, the throne of England was reportedly claimed by Alfred Ætheling, younger son of Emma of Normandy and Æthelred the Unready, and half-brother of Harthacnut. Godwin is reported to have either captured Alfred himself or to have deceived him by pretending to be his ally and then surrendering him to the forces of Harold Harefoot. Either way Alfred was blinded and soon died at Ely. In 1040, Harold Harefoot died and Godwin supported the accession of his half-brother Harthacnut to the throne of England. When Harthacnut himself died in 1042 Godwin supported the claim of Æthelred's last surviving son Edward the Confessor to the throne. Edward had spent most of the previous thirty years in Normandy.  His reign restored the native royal house of Wessex to the throne of England.

Despite his alleged responsibility for the death of Edward's brother Alfred, Godwin secured the marriage of his daughter Edith (Eadgyth) to Edward in 1045. As Edward drew advisors, nobles and priests from his former place of refuge in a bid to develop his own power base, Godwin soon became the leader of opposition to growing Norman influence. After a violent clash between the people of Dover and the visiting Eustace, Count of Boulogne, Edward's brother-in-law, Godwin was ordered to punish the people of Dover (as he and Leofric, Earl of Mercia had done in  Worcester, in Leofric's own earldom). This time, however, Godwin refused, choosing to champion his own countrymen against a (visiting) foreign ruler and his own king. Edward saw this as a test of power, and managed to enlist the support of Siward, Earl of Northumbria and Earl Leofric. Godwin and his sons were exiled from the kingdom in September 1051. However, they returned the following year with an armed force, which gained the support of the navy, burghers, and peasants, so compelling Edward to restore his earldom. This however set a precedent to be followed by a rival earl some years later, and then by Godwin's own son in 1066.

On 15 April 1053 Godwin died suddenly, after collapsing during a royal banquet at Winchester. Some colourful accounts claim that he choked on a piece of bread while denying any disloyalty to the king. However this appears to be later Norman propaganda. Contemporary accounts indicate that he just had a sudden illness, possibly a stroke.


His son Harold succeeded him as Earl of Wessex, an area then covering roughly the southernmost third of England. With the death of Earl Siward (1055) and later Earl Ælfgar (1062), the children of Godwin were poised to assume sole control. Tostig was helped into the earldom of Northumbria, thus controlling the north. The Mercian earl was sidelined, especially after Harold and Tostig broke the Welsh-Mercian alliance in 1063. Harold later succeeded Edward the Confessor and became King of England in his own right in 1066. At this point, both Harold's remaining brothers in England were earls in their own right, Harold was himself king and in control of Wessex, and he had married the sister of Earl Edwin of Mercia and Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, (who had succeeded his brother Tostig). Godwin's family looked set to inaugurate a new royal dynasty. But instead Harold was overthrown and killed in the Norman Conquest.

Gytha and Godwin's children.
1. Edith of Wessex (c. 1020-18 December 1075) queen consort of Edward the Confessor.
2. Harold II Godwinson of England (c. 1022 - d.14 October 1066)
3. Sweyn Godwinson, Earl of Mercia  (c. 1023 - d. 29 September 1052).
4. Tostig Godwinson , Earl of Northumbria (c. 1026 - d.25 September 1066)
5. Gyrth Godwinson ( c. 1030 - d.14 October 1066)
6. Leofwine Godwinson, Earl of Kent ( c. 1035 - d.14 October 1066)
7. Wulfnoth Godwinson ( c. 1040 - d. after 1087)
8. Alfgar, possibly a  monk in Rheims.
9. Edgiva.
10.Elgiva/Ælfgifu (c. 1035 -  d. c. 1066).
11.Gunhilda , a nun ( c. 1035 - d. 24 August 1087).



sources:
F.M. Stenton:  Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford History of England), 2001
Ian Walker: Harold : The Last Anglo-Saxon King, 1997
Ann Williams: The English and the Norman Conquest, 2000.
wikipedia 

Thorgils Sprakaleg

Bayeux tapestry

Thorgils Sprakaleg was a Danish (or Swedish)? famous chieftain, whose grandsons became Kings of Denmark and England. He is also named Thrugils, Torgils, Thorkel and Torkel, while his byname Sprakaleg is found in variations: Sprakelegg, Sprakelæg, Spragelæg, Sprageleg, Sprakeleg, Sprakalägg, Sprakling and other variants. In Swedish Torgils Sprakalägg (Torkel Styrbjörnsson), in English Thorgil Sprakling. In Knytlingesaga he is called "the fast".

NB: Thorgils Sprakaleg is not identical to Thorkel the Tall. 


His fame is mostly obvious in the status and position of his children, but there are no concrete history handed over about Thorgil's life. Saxo says in a small characteristic that Thorgils did not differ from his father's courage and masculinity. According to Florence of Worcester and Saxo Grammaticus his father's name was Bjørn (Latin Ursius) (i.e. urso, Latin for bear, björn in Scandinavian languages), but his paternal ancestry is much disputed.. There is no name of a wife (in some places on the internet is seen the name Sigrid of Halland as his wife without any source given), but it would be reasonable to assume that either his mother-in-law or his own mother was named Gytha (Gȳða), since this name was used regularly among several generations in his descendants ( the first was his daughter).

Saxo Grammaticus reports legendary that this Ursius/Björn was the son of a bear and a fair Swedish maiden. The Danish historians P.F. Suhm and Jacob Langebek equate Thorgil's father Bjørn and the Swedish prince Styrbjørn or Styrbjørn the Strong, who was a son of the Swedish King Olof Bjørnsson and married to Harold Bluetooth's daughter Thyra (one of Harold Bluetooth's wives was Styrbjørn's sister). The Danish royal family in the Middle Ages (from 1047 till 1412) descended paternally from the first historical known Swedish royal family in Sweden, called Bjørn Jernsides ätt or Munsøätten, which died out on the male line around 1060. No sources support directly a relation like this, and although plausible reasons can be said as  a support for the theory, there are just as many arguments against, (fx.: Saxo and the Knytlingesaga mention both Thorgils and Styrbjørn without indicating a relationship).

Thorgils' children were Ulf (d. 1027), a steward and Earl of Canute the Great in Denmark, whose son became King Sweyn II of Denmark (Svend Estridsen) , Eilaf (also Earl of King Canute) and Gytha Thorgilsdatter, who was to marry Godwin, Earl of Wessex and become mother of Harold Godwinson, King of England. A few present scolars are of the opinion that Thorgils was killed in the Battle of Svold, which supposedly happened in Øresund. If so his year of death would be the year 1000, but it seems that this information builds upon a false base and might origin from * Ohlmarks Novel. It is probable that he died before 1009, since one of his sons appears as one of the leaders in the England-expedition that year - and since Thorgils always is referred to in past tense in the Sagas. It is not wrong to say that he had died, before his sons began to distinguish themselves. 


What makes Thorgils so interesting is that two of his children became parents of later kings, his son Ulf Jarl, Earl of England and later Jarl of Denmark, was married to Canute the Great's sister Estrid. Estrid and Ulf had among several children a son, Svend (Sweyn), who in 1047 became King of Denmark and thereby the ancestral father of the Danish medieval kings. They had also a daughter Gytha, who was married to Godwin, Earl of Wessex, whose son Harold was King of England from January till October 1066. Although he was king for only a short time and although two of his brothers were killed in the Battle of Hastings like himself (the brother Tostig was killed in the Battle at Stamford Bridge the month before), then there are today  numerous descendants after Gytha and Godwin. Almost each present or earlier European royal house descend from these. ( like Valdemar the Great's mother Ingeborg of Novgorod).
 
Another son of Thorgils was (if the informations are reliable) a son Eilaf Jarl also called Eilif, Ejlif, Ejlaf and Eglaf, who is mentioned in different contexts with his brother Ulf. He took part in several expeditions and signed various diplomas in the 1020s, although the family ties are not mentioned at these occassions.
The name Thorgils does not seem to have been used often by the descendants. In various sources is only one occurrence of a descendant named after Thorgils, one of Svend Estridsen's many sons, who thus was a great-grandchild of Thorgils Sprakaleg. He later settled in the East, at Gardarike, according to Knytlingesaga.

Roskilde Vikingeskibsmuseum

Literature:
The Scania writer *Åke Ohlmarks let in his novel-saga  Konungariket Skånes Undergång from 1975 Thorgils Sprakalägg be the last king  (989-1000) of the independent Scania kingdom. Thorgils is in this story son of Toke Gormsson, a son of Gorm Skåning and a son's son of Guldharald. Ohlmark let Thorgils be married to a woman named Ragnfrid.
In Claus Deleuran's cartoon-version of  Danmarkshistorien "Illustreret Danmarkshistorie for folket",  is a drawing of a young Thorgils together with his father Bjørn.




Sources:

Danske vikingekonger - én slægt med mange grene, April 2011.

Saxo Grammaticus Danmarkshistorie, 10. bog, kapitel 15, afsnit 4 Peter Zeebergs oversættelse)
Ulf Jarl, Gyldendal - Den store Danske
Johannes Steenstrup, Normannnerne, bind 3 ss.259-260,332,350;392-393
Knytlingesaga, kapitel 2. 
Ulf Jarl, Dansk biografisk lexicon, Carl Frederik Bricka.

photo Roskilde Vikingeskibsmuseum: grethe bachmann

Mstislav I of Kiev

Mstislav I of Kiev
1) Christina Ingesdotter of Sweden
2)Liubana Dmitrievna
Mstislav I of Kiev is a rather special link. Through Euphrosyne (his daughter in second marriage) he is an ancestor of King Edward III of England and hence all subsequent English and British monarchs. Through his mother Gytha he is part of a link between Harold II of England and the modern line of English kings founded by William the Conqueror who deposed him.

Diorama of Kiev c. 1100

Kiev today.

His full name and title is Mstislav I Vladimirovich the Great, Grand Prince of Kiev from 1125-1132. He was born on June 1, 1076 in Turov and died in Kiev on April 14, 1132. Mstislav was the eldest son of Vladimir II Monomakh by Gytha of Wessex. He is mentioned in the Norse Sagas under the name Harald, taken to allude to his grandfather Harold II of England. Being the eldest son Mstislav was his father's future successor. He reigned in Novgorod from 1088-93 and from 1095-1117.  Later he was his father co-ruler in Kiev and inherited the Kievan throne after his death.

Sct Nicholas, Novgorod

Mstislav built several churches in Novgorod, Sct. Nicholas cathedral ( 1113) and the cathedral of St. Anthony cloister (1117), both survive to the present day. Sct. Nicholas was situated near his palace at Yaroslav's Court, Novgorod, the church contains 12th century frescoes which illustrates his family. He also built important churches in Kiev, fx.his family sepulchre and the Church of our Lady.
 
Mstislav was constantly at war from the year 1093 until about 1131, either with the Cumans or the Estonians, the Lithuanians and Polotsk, he also defeated his uncle Oleg of Chernigov, which caused enmity between his and Oleg's descendants. Mstislav was the last ruler of united Rus, and upon his death "the land of Rus was torn apart" - which was said by a chronicler.

There is not much information about his first wife, Christina Ingesdotter of Sweden. She was married to Mstislav in 1095 and she died on January 18 1122. Three years after her death, Mstislav became Grand Prince of Kiev. Later in 1122 Mstislav married Liubava Dmitrievna, the daughter of Dmitry Zavidich, a nobleman of Novgorod. Their children were: Vladimir III Mstislavich ( 1132-1171) and Euphrosyne of Kiev (c. 1130- c 1193), she married king Geza of Hungary in 1146.


Mstislav and Christina had ten children:
Ingeborg, Malmfred, Eupraxia, Vsevolod, Maria, Iziaslav, Rostislav, Sviatopolk, Rogneda, Xenia.

1. Ingeborg of Kiev
1) Knud Eriksson Lavard)
The first child and eldest daughter was Ingeborg. She is called Ingeborg of Kiev, Ingeborg of Novgorod or Ingeborg of Rusland. She married Knud (Lavard), the only legitimate son of king Erik I Ejegod of Denmark and Bodil Thrugotsdatter. Ingeborg and Knud had three daugthers and in 1131 they had a son Valdemar, who was born a week after his father's murder in Haraldsted forest. The boy was named after his grandfather Vladimir II Monomakh, and this was the first time the name Valdemar was used in Denmark.
Children:
1. Margaret/Margrethe, married to Stig Hvitaledr (Hvidelæder),
2. Christina/Kirsten (born 1118), married in 1133 to Magnus IV of Norway,
3. Catherine/Katrine, married to Pribislav Henry, duke of Mecklenburg,
4. Valdemar I of Denmark (born 1131). 

Please see posts about Ingeborg and Knud Lavard and their daughters elsewhere in this blog.
There is also an article in the Thyra-blog  about Knud's murder (search Knud Eriksson Lavard).


2. Malmfred 
1) Sigurd I of Norway
2) Erik II Emune of Denmark
Ingeborg's sister Malmfred was married to king Sigurd  I of Norway (Sigurd Jorsalfar)  and later to Erik II Emune of Denmark. She was married to Sigurd between 1116-1120, he was king of Norway from 1103-1130. In 1098 Sigurd accompanied his father king Magnus II to the Orkney Island, Hebrides and the Irish sea. He was made earl of Orkney the same year. A very young earl. Since he is 14 years old in 1103, he was only 9 years old. It is not certain whether Sigurd returned home with his father to Norway after the 1098 expedition; however, it is known that he was in Orkney when Magnus returned west in 1102 for his next expedition. A marriage alliance was negotiated between Magnus and an Irish princess, and Sigurd was to marry her sister, princess Blathmin O´Brien. However, when Magnus was ambushed and killed in Ulaid by an Irish army in 1103, the 14-year-old Sigurd returned to Norway along with the rest of the Norwegian army, leaving his child-bride behind, and became king together with his brothers Øystein and Olav. Upon arriving home back in Norway, he and his two brothers were proclaimed kings of Norway and would co-rule the kingdom together for some time. When he married Malmfred he was ab. 27 years of age. Sigurd died in 1130 and was buried in Hallvard's church (Hallvardskirken) in Oslo.

Sigurd and  Malmfred had a daughter, Kristin Sigurdsdatter, (mother of king Magnus V of Norway)  but no legitimate sons. This led to a power struggle following Sigurd's death between various illegitimate sons and other royal pretenders, which escalated into a lengthy and devastating civil war. Tradition say the marriage was unhappy. Malmfred's husband repudiated her in 1128 and remarried a certain Cecilia. In 1130 her ex-husband's illegitimate son Magnus IV Sigurdsson became king and Malmfred left for Denmark, were she married Prince Erik Emune (king Erik II).  In 1131, she arranged the marriage between her former stepson Magnus IV of Norway to her sister's daughter, princess Christine of Denmark, (daughter of Ingeborg and Knud Lavard) , they were married in 1133. Christine's husband king Magnus supported the struggle of Malmfred, Erik Emune and Christine's father, Knud Lavard, against King Niels of Denmark. In 1133, Erik Emune and Malmfred fled Denmark for Norway and the protection of Magnus. After Queen Christine, however, found out that Magnus had plans to betray them, she warned them and Erik Emune and Malmfred allied themselwes with the rival of king Magnus, king Harald IV of Norway. King Magnus then separated from queen Christine. In 1134, Erik Emune became king, and Malmfred queen of Denmark. She had no more children. In 1137, her second husband was murdered. Malmfred is not mentioned after this date.

Malmfred and Sigurd had a daughter: Kristin Sigurdsdatter, she was the wife of Erling Skakke and the mother of king Magnus V of Norway. 

3. Eupraxia 
1) Alexios Komnenos
Is mentioned as Eupraxia-Dobrodjeja of Kiev in the information about her husband Alexios Komnenos, latinised as Alexius Comnenus, but the identity of his wife is said to be uncertain. It is possible he was married twice, the first wife being Dobrodjeja Mstislavna of Kiev, (= Eupraxia, which presumably is her Orthodox baptismal name), a daughter of Mstislav of Kiev, and the second being Kata of Georgia, a daughter of David IV of Georgia. While both women are known to have married members of the Komnenoi-family, several theories have been suggested as to the identities of their husband or husbands.

Alexios was the eldest son of the Byzantine emperor John II Komnenos and his wife Eirene of Hungary. He was born in February 1106 at Balabista in Macedonia, was made co-emperor with his father at 16 or 17 years of age and died on the 2nd August 1142  at Attalia, Pamphylia. He was an elder brother of the emperor Manuel I Komnenos and had a twin sister, Maria Komnene (plus other siblings). The coverage of his life is very sparse. Eupraxia died c. 1136.

 Alexios Komnenos and his wife (this must be Eupraxia Dobrodjeja  had one child: Maria Komnene (-1167)  

Novgorod (Middle Ages)

4. Vsevolod of Novgorod and Pskov
1) Chernigovian princess
Vsevolod Mstislavich, the patron saint of the city of Pskov, ruled as Prince of Novgorod in 1117–32, Prince of Pereslavl (1132) and Prince of Pskov in 1137–38. He was the eldest son of Mstislav and Christina. He was born in Novgorod during his father's reign as prince there (1088-93), (1095-1117) and was given the baptismal name Gabriel, or Gavriil. The date of his birth is unknown. He was enthroned as Prince of Novgorod after his father Mistislav became Grand Prince of Kiev in 1117 and ruled Novgorod, with some interruption, until he was ousted by the Novgorodians in 1136. He was married to a Chernigovian princess in Novgorod in 1123 and his son, Ivan, was born there (Ivan died in 1128). Vsevolod died in February 1138. According to his own wishes, he was buried in the Church of St. Demetrius in Pskov.

frescoes

Vsevolod built a number of churches in and around the city: the Church of St. John on Opoki (1127–1130),
the Church of St. George in the Market (1133), the Church of The Assumption in the Market (1133);  and the Church of St. George in the Yuriev Monastery. The Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Yaroslav's Court, while often attributed to his father Mstislav, was mostly built during Vsevolod's tenure in Novgorod.

Vsevolod's comparatively early death prevented him from claiming the Kievan throne. He was survived by a daughter, Wierzchoslawa, the wife of Boleslaw IV the Curly. Prince Vsevolod was canonized by the Russian Orthodox church as Vsevolod-Gavriil. In the Stepennaya Kniga (the "Book of Degrees of Royal Genealogy"), he is listed as a Pskov Wonderworker. His relics were moved from the Church of St. Demetrius to the Trinity Cathedral in the Pskov Kremlin in 1193. The Pskovians attached his name to a German sword with the inscription honorem meum nemini dabo, formerly preserved in the cathedral sacristy, but modern historians date the sword to the 15th century at the earliest.


Vsevolod married in 1123 in Novgorod a Chernigovian princess who was an unnamed daughter of Svjatoslav Davidovich.
They had two children:

1. Ivan (died 1128),
2. Wierzchoslawa Wsewolodna (ab. 1124- 14 March 1158). She married in 1137 Boleslaw IV the Curly High duke of Poland.

5. Maria 
1) Vsevolod II Olgovich
Maria's husband Vsevolod (marriage between 1116-1125) was the prince (Knyaz) of Chernigov (1127-1139) and Grand prince (Velikiy Knyaz)  of Kiev 1139-1146, he was a son of Oleg Svyatoslavich, prince of Chernigov. Vsevolod died August 1., 1146. Though he had two sons, Vsevolod's chosen successor was his brother, Igor, and he obtained pledges from his subjects to accept Igor as his heir. According to one account, Vsevolod even had the Kievans kiss the Holy Cross and swear loyalty to Igor, which they resented. Shortly before his death, Vsevolod became a monk under the name Gavriil. Maria died 1179.
Maria and Vsevolod had two sons and two daughters:
1. Sviatoslav III of Kiev
2. Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, born in 1139

3. Anna of Chernigov, married a prince of Galicia, according to some chronicles.
4. Zvenislava of Chernigov, married Boleslaw I the Tall, duke of Wroclaw.


6. Iziaslav II of Kiev
1) Agnes (Liubava) of Germany)
2) Anonymus daughter of Demetrius I of Georgia.
Iziaslav II Mstislavich ( c. 1097-13 november 1154), prince of Pereyslav 1132, prince of Turov 1132-1134, prince of Rostov 1143- , prince of Vladimir and Volyn 1134-1142, Pereyslavl 1143-1145, Grand prince (Velikiy Kniaz) of Kiev 1146-1149 and 1151-1154. He was a son of Mstislav I and Christina of Sweden . His first wife was Agnes, a daughter of king Conrad III of Germany. She took the name Liubava after her marriage. She died in 1151. 
 Their children were.
1. Mstislav II of Kiev
2. Yaroslav II of Kiev
3. Yaropolk, prince of Shumsk
4. Evdokia, married Mieszko II the Old, High duke of Poland.
Iziaslav's second wife was an anonymous daughter of King Demetrius I of Georgia, but they were married for only a few months in 1154 before his death.

7. Rostislav of Kiev
1) Agnes of Swabia
Rostislav Mstislavich (c. 1110– 14/3-1168), prince (Kniaz) of Smolensk, (1125–1160), Novgorod (1154) and Grand prince (Velikiy kniaz) of Kiev ( (1154, 1159–1167). He was the son of Mstislav I of Kiev and Christina of Sweden.  After Yaroslav II of Kiev was driven out of Novgorod, Rostislav was invited to become the ruler of Novgorod. He accepted, and became the prince on April 17, 1154. Then, learning that his brother, Iziaslav II, had died, Rostislav left Novgorod to take the Kievan throne. Indignant that their prince had abandoned them and angered that "he did not make order among them, but tore them more apart", the citizens of Novgorod drove out Rostislav's son, David, who was their governor. They replaced him with Mstislav Yurievich, the son of Yury Dolgoruky.  Rostislav ruled Kiev for one week before Iziaslav III of Kiev forced him to flee to Chernigov. Rostislav was married to Agnes of Swabia (b. ca. 1107 – died ca. 1151) who gave him five children:

3 sons:
David Rostislavich of Novgorod,
Msitslav Rostislavich of Smolensk
Roman Rostislavich of Kiev
2 daughters
Elena Rostislavna of Kiev-Smolensk (died 1204)
Agrafiya Rostislavna (died 1237).


8. Sviatopolk of Pskov
1) Euphemia of Moravia.
Sviatopolk, prince of Pskov 1138-40, prince of Novgorod 1142-48, prince of Volynia 1148-54, he died in 1154. He was married between 13/12 1143 and 6/1 1144 to Euphemia of Moravia. She was born 1115, died after 1144.
children:?  



9. Rogneda 
1) Jaroslav of Turov/Volynia
Rogneda Mstislavna Rurik of Kiev was born circa 1111 to Mstislav I of Kiev and Christina of Sweden. She died c. 1158 of unspecified causes. She married Jaroslav/Yaroslav of Turov/Volynia (c1091-1123).
Children: ?

10. Xenia
1)  Briachislav of Izyaslawl
Xenia was the last child of Mstislav and Christina. She married in 1125 Briachislav of Izyaslavl. Xenia died after 1129.

Children: ?


Christine Ingesdotter of Sweden died on January 18, 1122; later that year Mstislav married again to Liubava Dmitrievna, (+ after 1168) the daughter of Dmitry Zavidich, a nobleman of Novgorod. 
Their children were:

11. Euphrosyne of Kiev (c. 1130- c. 1193) 
1) king Geza II of Hungary 

Euphrosyne was the eleventh child of Mstislav and the first daughter of Mstislav and his second wife Liubava Dmitrievna. In 1146 Euphrosyne married king Géza II of Hungary, who had come of age shortly before. During her husband's reign Euphrosyne did not intervene in the politics of the kingdom, but after his death on 31 May 1162, her influence strengthened over their son, king Stephen III. The young king had to struggle against his uncles Ladislaus and Stephen to save his throne, and Euphrosyne took an active part in the struggles. She persuaded King Lladislaus II of Bohemia to give military assistance to her son against the invasion of the Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.

Euphrosyne's favourite son was the youngest, Duke Géza of Hungary. When King Stephen III died on 4 March 1172, she was planning to ensure his succession against her older son Béla, who had been living in the court of the Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.  However, Béla came back, and he was crowned on 13 January 1173, although the achbishop Lukács of Esztergom denied his coronation. Shortly after, King Béla III arrested his brother, which increased the tension between Euphrosyne and her son. Duke Géza soon managed to escape, probably with Euphrosyne's help, but in 1177 he was again arrested.

In 1186, Euphrosyne tried to release her younger son again, but she failed. King Béla III ordered the arrest of Euphrosyne and kept her confined in the fortress of Barancs (Serbian Branicevo).  Shortly after, Euphrosyne was set free, but she was obliged to leave the kingdom for Constantinople. From Constantinople she moved to  Jerusalem where she lived as a nun in the convent of the Hospitallers, and then in the Basilian monastery of Saint Sabbas.

Euphrosyne and king Géza II of Hungary had following children:

1. king Stephen II of Hungary ( 1147 - 4 march 1172)
2. king Béla III of Hungary (1148 - 23 april 1196)
3  Elisabeth (c 1149 - after 1189) wife of duke Frederick of Bohemia
4. prince Géza (c. 1150 - before 1210)
5. Odola (? )- wife of duke Svatopolk of Bohemia
6. Helena (c. 1158 - 25 May 1199) wife of duke Leopold V of Austria.

Eyuphrosyne is the ancestress of Edward III of England and hence the ancestor of all subsequent English and British monarchs. She is also part of a link connecting the line of Harold Godwinson and the modern line of British monarchs.

12. Vladimir II Mstislavich (1132 - 30/5-1171) 
1) daughter of Serbias Belos Vukanovich.

Vladimir III Mstislavich (1132–1173), Prince of Dorogobuzh (1150–1154, 1170–1171), Vladimir and Volyn (1154–1157), Slutsk (1162), Tripolye (1162–1168) and Grand prince of Kiev (1171). He was the son of Mstislav I of Kiev and his second wife Liubava. Due to his brief rule he is omitted from some lists of the princes of Kiev. He kept excellent ties with Hungary and Serbia. In 1150 he married the daughter of Serbia's Belos Vukanovic. According to old Russian annals, her titular name was enscribed as "Banovna".
children: ?

Saltensee of Linde

ruins, Søborg slot, foto 2002: gb

 


From
Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
C.F. Bricka
1887-1905


Saltensee, Erik Nielsen, – ab..1379, of  Hørningsholm (now Hørsholm),
Søholm and Linde, called himself only E. N., but had a murtinde
(wall peak) in his coat of arms, a family, which in the family books have
the name Saltensee; with what right is unknown. His father was Niels
Eriksen of Linde, his mother was probably called Cathrine Timmesdatter
of Søholm. He is mentioned from 1361, and it seems that he, at king
Valdemar Atterdag's death, belonged to the party which wanted  the
Mecklenburg hertug Albrecth (Henriksøn) elected king, but since the
hertug died soon after, he probably joined king Oluf, whose coronation
charter 1376-77 he has sealed. He was chief  at skanderborg (castle) in
1377 and was together with other Jutland slotshøvedsmænd (castle
chiefs) summoned to meet at the emporial  tribunal, but the next year he
was chief at Søborg (castle) . Shortly after, before 22. March 1380, he
died after having founded a Vikarie  in  Roskilde cathedral and given
soul gifts elsewhere. He left a childless widow, Ingeborg Pedersdatter
Grubbe, who later married hr. Johan Olufsen Bjørn.

C. Christensen, Hørsholms Hist. S. 4 f.

Thiset.

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Staarup Hovedgaard, foto: gb

Saltensee of Linde:  Staarup Hovedgaard


From Blog:
Ancestral Line I, 7th generation:


7. g.:
Jens Kaas of Taarupgård, Volstrup and Votborg at Mors, (ment.1477-1519), m. to Edel Lagesdatter Saltensee of Staarupgård. Her forefathers from her great-grandfather were:
a) Lage Grummesen Saltensee, ment. in Ørum in Fjends herred 1360. Son: b) Hr. Jep Lagesen Saltensee of Staarupgård (ment. 1377-1410), m. to Edel Christiernsdatter Munk from an old family with a Mursnit (brickwork) in their coat of arms, of Koustrup in Thy. Son: c) Lage Jepsen Saltensee of Staarupgård (ment.1401-38), m. to Ide Iversdatter Juel of Daubjergård, from the family Juel with a star in their coat of arms, a daughter of Iver Juel of Øgelstrup and Astrup, (ment. 1421,d. 1468) and first wife Mette Lauridsdatter Hvas of Ormstrup, whose mother was a Strangesen. Iver Juels father was rigsråd Jens Pallesen Juel of Øgelstrup (ment. 1410-28), m. to Karen Christiernsdatter Fasti.

Strange Nielsen Strangesen and Ebbe Strangesen.

 














From:
Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
C.F.Bricka 
1887-1905


Strangesen, Strange Nielsen, –o.1489, Hofmester, (chief at court)
from a family, which probably  is the same as the family Bild, was a son
of Hr. Niels Strangesen of Norringtoft (in Hundborg herred) and Ingeborg
Follertsdatter (Dosenrode). He is mentioned the first time  in 1440 and as
a ridder in 1443. In 1444 he is mentioned as the owner of  Nørholm, a
farm, which he achieved with his wife Anne, daughter of Claus Jonsen
(Lange) and the "evil" Fru Gertrud Mogensdatter Munk. From 1449 and
up till 1489 S.N. is mentioned as a rigsråd, and he is often used in public
occassions; he took part at Gulland in 1449 and in Norway 1450 and
was among those, who capitulated at Stockholm in 1464 - and he took
part in a negotiation-meeting with the Swedes in Lübeck 1469,  in an
arbitration award between the king and his creditors in Schleswig and
Holstein in 1470 and at the Kalmar-meetings 1472,73,74 and 76.

He was a vasal at Ørum, in Thy, in 1467-74, and probably already  in
1449, it seems that the vasalry was pawned to  him, and that he kept it
until his death, since his son Ebbe later had it as a pawn. In the battle at
Brunkebjerg 1471 S.N. was the leader of  "Danebrog", although it is not
quite clear if it was the old Danebrog-banner; it seems like he had to give
the banner into the hands of the Swedes.

In 1480-81 he was the hofmester of the elected  king Hans and played
an important role in his management of Funen. After Christian I's death he
became hofmester of king Hans, who was now the ruler. He was in this
position in 1482-83 and still in 1487, possibly with an interruption in 1484,
but there is no information about his work as a hofmester. He did not keep
this job until his death , since he watched Poul Laxmand being his successor
in 1489 - he died between 15 July 1489 and 13 December 1490, and on
this last date fru Anne is  mentioned as his widow.


Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1888, S. 64 f.; 1897, S. 488 f.
William Christensen.



Strangesen, Ebbe, –1507, Rigsraad, was a son of  Strange Nielsen.
From his parents he inherited a part of Nørholm, and with his wife
Kirstine, who was a daughter of Claus Gertsen Bryske and Grete
Engelbrechtsdatter (Bydelsbak), whom he married 1494, he also
got rights in Kjeldkjær, which he later increased. Furthermore he was
a vasal at Ørum 1497 and still in 1504.

E.S. is mostly known as the killer of Hofmester (chief at court) Poul
Laxmand. Between the two men was a long personal enmity,  which
might have woken up during the failed expedition to Sweden in 1502,
where they both took part. On June 22. in 1502 Poul Laxmand  - who
had returned to  Copenhagen a few days before and had been at the
royal palace to meet and talk with the king - had met E.S. and Bjørn
Andersen Bjørn at Højbro. The two men, who had been drinking
comrades on the travel from Kalmar to Copenhagen, had been eating
and drinking all day, but it was E.S., who attacked Poul Laxmand, while
Bjørn Andersen tried to make peace. He did not draw his sword,  until
Poul Laxmand struck both him and E.S. with his sword.

It was not the king who had instigated the killing. In October was E.S's wife
very concerned about the consequences for her husband, but there seems
to have been  no reason for any concern, since E.S. is mentioned as a rigsråd
in 1502, which he wasn't earlier, and which he might have become as a reward
for the killing. In the following time he is often mentioned as  rigsråd, (like at
Kalmar in 1505), but he never became never a ridder.

He was also a vasal at Hagenskov in 1505, a job, which he kept until his
death in 1507, (latest 7 Febr.) He did not become an old man, some of his
contemporaries considered his early death as a punishment for the killing of
Poul Laxmand . His widow is mentioned in 1517 where she was married

again to Henneke Ahlefeldt Benedictsen.

Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1888, S. 65.
William Christensen.