The Portuguese Connection, Berengaria and her family

The Danish kings Eric IV, Abel and Christopher I  had Portuguese grandparents via their mother, queen Berengaria, who was a Portuguese infanta and the fifth daughter of Portuguese King Sancho I and Dulce of Aragon.She was the member of a large family, and she had ten siblings. Her mother died in 1198, when Berengaria was about three years of age - and her father died in 1212. In various annals and ballads she is known as Bringenilæ, Bengerd, Bengjerd and related forms. In 1211, at the age of sixteen she was at the French court together with her brother Ferrante (Ferdinand). King Philip II August (another of Berengaria's and Ferdinand's cousins) had arranged a marriage for Ferdinand to Jeanne of Flanders, which made him count of Flanders. Here, at the French court, was Berengaria introduced to King Valdemar, whose sister Ingeborg was married to King Philip. It seems that the marriage between Valdemar and Berengaria might have been Ferdinand's wish of connecting Valdemar Sejr to the alliance against France, which Ferdinand in the summer 1213 entered together with King John  of England and the German emperor Otto IV. It was probably because of Berengaria that Valdemar entered another connection to the Portuguese royalty, when his eldest son Valdemar the Young in 1229 was married to Berengaria's niece, Alfonso 2.'s daughter Eleonora.  Berengaria was married to King Valdemar in May 1214. They were married for seven years until her death in childbed in 1221, and they had four surviving children:

Erik IV of Denmark (1216-1250) King of the Danes (1241-1250).
Sophie (1217-1247), married John I; Margrave of Brandenburg.
 Abel of Denmark (1218-1252), King of the Danes (1250-1252).
Christopher I of Denmark (1219-1259), King of the Danes (1252-1259)


Berengaria, beautiful and haughty versus Dagmar, soft and pious.
 It was an almost impossible task for Berengaria to follow in the footsteps of the popular Dagmar of Bohemia, King Valdemar's first wife. Dagmar was blonde and with Nordic looks - and Berengaria was the opposite, a dark-eyed, raven haired beauty. In 1214, when she got married to Valdemar, she was a young woman of nineteen - and she arrived in a Danish court and a strange country , which must have seemed immensely foreign to a girl from the warm southern Europe and the more refined French court. The Danes did not exactly welcome her with open arms. They made up folk songs about her and blamed her for the high taxes, which seems awkward. She had probably not much to do with Valdemar's decisions about taxation, except that she might have been blamed for the costy wedding and her possible luxurious habits around clothes and jewels. Or else she was noted for having made donations to churches and convents, but it must have been difficult for her to win peoples trust and sympathy. Old folk ballads says that Dagmar on her deathbed had begged Valdemar to marry Kirsten, the daughter of Karl von Rise and not the "beautiful flower" Berengaria. Although this is merely legend and there's no historical prove of this. The tradition about Berengaria and Dagmar was written down in the 1500s which makes it rather doubtful. Valdemar's two queens play a prominent role in Danish ballads and myths - Dagmar as the soft, pious and popular ideal wife and Berengaria (Bengjerd) as the beautiful and haughty woman.

Concrete knowledge about Berengaria
The concrete knowledge about Berengaria's life is minimal and at random. The popes Innocens 3. and Honorius 3. confirmed her morning gift, which is unusual. The size of the morning gift, which the bridegroom gives in order to secure his wife's possible widowhood, is not known. Berengaria was the first Danish queen known to have worn a crown, which is mentioned in the inventory of her possessions (1225). Her personal possessions were kept apart from the ransom in 1225 for King Valdemar and his eldest son after their capture at Lyø two years earlier, and among these possessions was her crown. It is the first time a crown of a Danish queen is mentioned in documents. In 1221 Berengaria, after giving birth to three future kings, died in childbirth. Queen Berengaria is buried in St. Bendt's Church in Ringsted, on one side of Valdemar II, with Queen Dagmar buried on the other side of the King.When queen Berengaria's grave was opened in 1885, they found her thick plait of hair, her finely formed skull and finely built body bones, proving the legends about her reported beauty. A portrait drawing was made to show how she might have looked.

Berengaria's Father
Sancho I, nicknamed the Populator, was second monarch of Portugal. Sancho belonged to the Portuguese branch of the House of Burgundy, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. He was born on 11 November 1154 in Coimbra and died on 26 March 1212 in the same city. He was the second but only surviving legitimate son and fourth child of Afonso (Alfonso) I Henriques of Portugal by his wife, Maud of Savoy. Sancho succeeded his father in 1185. He used the title King of the Algarve and/or King of Silves between 1189 and 1191. In 1170 he was knighted by his father, King Afonso I, and from then on he became his second in command, both administratively and militarily. With the death of Afonso I in 1185, Sancho I became the second king of Portugal. Coimbra was the centre of his kingdom; Sancho I dedicated much of his reign to political and administrative organization of the new kingdom. He accumulated a national treasure, supported new industries and the middle class of merchants. Moreover, he created several new towns and villages (like Guarda in 1199) and took great care in populating remote areas in the northern Christian regions of Portugal, notably with  Flemings and Burgundians – hence the nickname "the Populator". The king was also known for his love of knowledge and literature. Sancho I wrote several books of poems and used the royal treasure to send Portuguese students to European universities.

Berengaria's Mother
Dulce of Aragon (or of Barcelona) (1160–1198) was the wife of King Sancho I of Portugal. She was the eldest daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona and his wife, Queen Petronila of Aragon.Dulce was married to Prince Sancho in 1174, an event that renewed the alliance between Portugal and her native Aragon. The union was arranged by her brother, King Afonso II of Aragon. With her husband's ascent to the throne in 1185, she became Queen consort


Sancho and Dulce's children were:
Teresa, (1178/1181-1250) married to King Alfonso IX of Leon.
Raymond (c.1180-1189)
Sancha ( a. 1182-13 March 1229) Abbess of Lorvao in Penacova.
Constance (c. 1182-3 August 1202)
Afonso II (23 April 1185-25 March 1223) Succeeded Sancho I of Portugal as 3rd King of Portugal.
Peter (23 February 1187-2 June 1258) Count of Urgell and Lord of the Balearic islands, lived in Leon and married Countess Aurembiaix of Urgell.
Ferdinand (24 March 1188- 4 March 1233) Lived in France and married Jeanne of Flanders
Henry (1189-1189)
Branca (c. 1195-1240) Lady of Guadalajara.
Berengária (c.1195- 1221) Married to King Valdemar II of Denmark
Mafalda (c. 1198-1256) married to King Henry I of Castile By Maria Aires  ( -1180?)had Sancho a natural son and daughter: Martim/Henrique Sanches (c. 1200-1229) and Urraca Sanches (c. 1200-1256) - and by Maria Pais Ribereira (Ribeirinha) (c.1170-1258) had Sancho 6 natural children: Rodrigo, Gil, Nuno, Teresa, Constanca and Maior Sanches.

Berengarias sisters and brothers: Teresa/Theresa was the oldest daughter of Sancho and Dulce.  She was about 14- 16? years old, when Berengaria was born and might have been like a mother to three year old Berengaria, when their mother died in 1198. Theresa was born October 4, 1178 and died June 18 1250. She was also known as Tarasia of Portugal and later as the infanta-rainha (English: Princess-Queen). She was married to Alfonso IX of Leon and the mother of three children: two daughters and a son who died young. Her marriage to Alfonso was declared invalid because they were first cousins, and she returned to her familial home of Lorvao, Portugal, where she founded a Benedictine monastery. She converted the monastery into a large Cistercian convent with over 300 nuns.  Alfonso's second marriage was also annulled, because his second wife Berengaria of Castile was his first cousin  - and later was a dispute among the children as to who would inherit the throne after Alfonso's death in 1230. Teresa stepped in and allowed Ferdinand II of Castile, Berengaria's eldest son, to take the throne of Leon. She returned to Lorvao and finally took her convent wovs after years of living as a nun. She died in the convent on June 18, 1250 of natural causes. On December 13, 1705, Teresa was beatified by Pope Clement II's papal bull Sollicitudo Pastoralis Offici, along with her sister Sancha of Portugal. Her Catholic feast day is June 17.
Infanta Sancha of Portugal , was a Portuguese princess, second daughter of King Sancho and Dulce. She was born on an unknown date, prior to 1182 and died in the Monastery of Celas, on March 13, 1229. Her body was moved to Lorvao Abbey, which she had founded and became the first abbess of. She was also the feudal Lady of Alenquer. On December 13, 1705 Sancha was beatified by Pope Clement XI's papal bull Sollicitudo Pastoralis Offici, along with her sister Theresa of Portugal.
Afonso II and his wife Urraca of Castile (her mother a Plantagenet) Afonso II  (English Alphonzo), or Affonso , Alfonso or Alphonso or Alphonsus , nicknamed "the Fat" (Portuguese o Gordo), third king of Portugal, was born in Coimbra on 23 April 1185 and died on 25 March 1223 in the same city. He was the second but eldest surviving son of Sancho I of Portugal by his wife Dulce, Infanta of Aragon. Afonso succeeded his father in 1212.Since military issues were not a government priority, Afonso established the state's administration and centralized power on himself. He designed the first set of Portuguese written laws. These were mainly concerned with private property, civil justice, and minting. Afonso also sent ambassadors to European kingdoms outside the Iberian Peninsula  and began amicable commercial relations with most of them. The Church:  Afonso II endeavoured to weaken the power of the clergy and to apply a portion of the enormous revenues of the Roman Catholic Church to purposes of national utility. These actions led to a serious diplomatic conflict between the pope and Portugal. After being excommunicated for his audacities by Pope Honorius III, Afonso II promised to make amends to the church, but he died in 1223 before making any serious attempts to do so. Afonso was married to Urraca of Castile (1186, 28 May 1187 - 3 November 1220) who was a daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleonora of England. Her maternal grandparents were Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was originally considered as a prospective bride for Louis VIII of France, but Eleanor of Aquitaine objected to her name (Urraca means magpie in Spanish) preferring the Spanish name of Urraca's sister Blanche, (Blanca) In 1206 Urraca married Afonso II of Portugal. They were the parents of five children. (Sancho II, Afonso III, Eleanor, Ferdinand and Vicente. The daughter Eleanor was married to Valdemar III the Young of Denmark.)
Two years younger than Afonso, Peter I (Portuguese: Pedro) was born in Coimbra, February 23, 1187 and died on the Balearic Islands, June 2, 1258.  He was the second son of King Sancho and Dulce, and would eventually become Count of Urgell and Lord of the Balearic Islands.  After the death of his father, Peter took the side of his sisters Mafalda, Sancha and Theresa, in their quarrel with his elder brother, now King Afonso II, over inheritance of the castles of Seia, Alenquer and Montemor-o-Novo, Peter got the protection of his sister Theresa, then Queen of Leon, from whose territory he launched several inconclusive attacks on the Portuguese border province of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, but eventually had to concede defeat and perpetual exile from Portugal. Peter then left León to become a mercenary in the service of Yusuf II, the Almohad Caliph of Morocco. Subsequently, Peter moved to Aragon, his mother's homeland, where he became involved in the schemes and campaigns of his relative , the young and ambitious King James I . In 1229 Peter married Countess Aurembiaix of Urgell, who had long been exiled from Urgell by the ururper Guerau IV de Cabrera, and who had been James I's mistress. With Peter as her husband and co-ruler, James helped Aurembiaix regain Urgell under the Aragonese overlordship - after she and Peter agreed to hand over to the King the city of Lleida. In 1230, Peter helped the Bishop of Tarragone to conquer the Balearic island of Ibiza from the Moors. Following Aurembiaix's death in 1231, Peter continued as Count of Urgell in a titular capacity, but this position was disputed by his overlord James I. In 1236 they came to an agreement by which Peter gave up Urgell. In exchange, Peter got the newly-conquered Balearic islands of Majorca, Ibiza and Formentera as well as some important castles.Peter ruled these Balearic possessions until his death, in 1258. As he left no legitimate issue, they then reverted to the Aragonese Crown, later becoming the core of Kingdom of Majorca ruled by a minor branch of the Aragonese Royal Family. Peter left two illegitimate sons, Rodrigo and Fernando.
Ferdinand of Portugal, Count of Flanders, the brother with whom Berengaria went to the French court. He was born in Coimbra, March 24, 1188  and died in Noyon, July 27, 1233; (Portuguese: Fernando, Old French Ferrand), fourth son of Sancho and Dulce. He was Count of Flanders by marriage to Countess Joan/Jeanne of Flanders, eldest daughter of Baldwin/Balduin IX of Flanders. Ferdinand married Joan on January 1212 in Paris.While on their way to Flanders the newlyweds were captured by Joan's first cousin Louis (the future Louis VIII of France), eldest son of Philip Augustus and Joan's aunt, Isabella of Flanders. Louis' aim was to acquire his dead mother's dowry, a large piece of Flemish territory including Artois, which Joan's father had taken back by force after Isabella's death. Released after this concession, Joan and Ferdinand soon joined the old allies of her father, king John of England, and Emperor Otto IV, in an alliance against France. They were decisively defeated at Bouvines in July 1214, where Ferdinand was taken prisoner. Ferdinand was to remain in French hands for the next 12 years, while Joan ruled alone. He was set free in January 1227 by Blanca of Castile after Louis VIII's death. Ferdinand died in Noyon on July 27, 1233. From his marriage to countess Joan was a daughter, born in 1231, but she died in 1235. Infanta Branca of Portugal (c. 1192- died in Guadalajara, November 17, 1240), English: Blanche; was a Portuguese princess, eighth child of King Sancho and Dulce. She was the feudal Lady of Guadalajara. Branca was co-founder of, and a nun at the Dominican convent at Coimbra. She is buried in Santa Cruz de Coimbra.
Infanta Mafalda of Portugal (c. 1197 –died in Rio tinto, Amarante, May 1, 1256); was a Portuguese princess, later Queen consort of Castile for a brief period. She was the second youngest daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal and Dulce.In 1215, Mafalda married Henry I of Castile. As he was very young, the marriage was not consummated, and it was dissolved in 1216. After that she became a nun in Arouca and died in Rio tinto (Amarante)  on May 1, 1256. On June 27, 1793 she was Beatified.  Sources: Wikipedia (English, German, Danish,) Dansk Kvindebiografisk Lexicon) grethe bachmann  ©​ copyright

Christoffer I, ab. 1219-1259, ~ Margrethe Sambiria, - 1282

 









Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
Project Runeberg
1887-1905

Christoffer I, ab.1219-59, King, a son of king Valdemar Sejr
and Berengaria. In his youth (fx in 1245) C. is mentioned as
the lord of Lolland and Falster; he had during his brother Erik
Plovpenning's rule for a period joined hertug Abel against
the king, but a reconciliation was however made. After
Abel was killed 29 June 1252 C. was celebrated king and was
crowned on Christmas day the same year in Lund's cathedral,
although Abel's eldest son Valdemar -while his father lived  -
had been acknowledged as heir to the throne. In this way
began a feud between the two lines of the royal family, which
continued through generations and still was nourished by all
the other feud-topics of that time.  C. reconciled in 1254 with
Abel's family by endowing Valdemar with Schleswig, but when
the young hertug (duke) died 3 years later, C. took back the
vasalry and the feud started again. Another feud came to, a feud
with the church. The intelligent, power-craving and ruthless bishop
in Roskilde Jacob Erlandsen took over the archbishopric in 1254,
fully prepared to carry through the church's newly gained special
position opposite the secular power. When Danehof  was held
in Nyborg in 1256, Jacob Erlandsen summoned a church meeting
in Vejle, where they agreed that if any bishop was harmed and
if the king supposedly was to blame, then the whole country should
be under interdict. C.now behaved violently towards the bishops;
and at the same time the poorest among the peasants started to
riot, a war broke out with Norway, and king Hakon Hakonsen
placed his fleet outside Copenhagen (1257); then C. decided to
reconcile with this enemy and even united with Hakon in a alliance.
C.'s violent behaviour towards the church reached its peak, when
he was furious with the archbishop, who denied to crown his son
Erik, and in February 1259 he let Jacob Erlandsen put into prison.
The interdict had now to be imposed on Denmark; some bishops
rebelled against the king and joined prince Jarimar of Rügen and
Erik (Abelsen), and a Wendic army came to Copenhagen. C.
took up the fight with great energy, but 29. May 1259 he suddenly
died in Ribe. There was a suspicion that he had been poisoned,
and abbot Arnfast of Ry was said to be the murderer, but there
are no proofs of this accusation. C. was buried in Ribe cathedral.

C.s short rule was a fatal and very unrest period, and the
king, who was an obstinate, but brave and active prince, held
on to the Crown's rights, and he was probably not able to fight
the big fight; some of his actions however indicate a diplomatic
cleverness and ability to give in in the last moment. C., who
was praised for his chastity, was in 1248 married to the stout
daughter of the Pommeranian hertug Sambor, Margrethe
Sambiria (with the byname Sprænghest ), she died in 1282.
They had the children Erik Glipping, (Klipping) Valdemar,
Niels and Mechtild, married to margraf Albert III of
Brandenburg.

Johannes C. H. R. Steenstrup. 

Margrethe Sambiria, –1282, queen, was a daughter of the
East-Pommeranian prince Sambor, a brother of Svantopolk
the Great; her mother 's name was Mechtilde who came from
Mecklenburg. In 1248 was Margrethe married to Valdemar
Sejr's youngest son Christoffer, and in 1252 she was crowned
together with him. The marriage is mentioned as a very happy
one, and she and her husband had several children, among
these 3 sons, from whom only Erik Glipping became a grown
man. While Christoffer lived, M. is only mentioned on
rare occasions, but it is seen that she together with her father
tried to mediate between the king and archbishop Jacob
Erlandsen. After her husband's sudden death (29 May 1259)
she played a larger role, since she was a guardian and ruler  for
her only nine year old son Erik. She lost every hope of resisting
Christoffer's enemies when the peasants from Zealand were
beaten by the Rügen-prince Jarimar at Næstved, and M. had
to buy the peace  by several concessions ; the imprisoned
archbishop was given his freedom, Erik Abelsøn was endowed
with Sønderjylland. M. soon entered the politics of her late
husband; in spite of protests from the archisbop she let the
Jutland bishops crown Erik in Viborg, and in 1261 she lead
an army into the hertugdømme (duchy). Her progress was
only shortlived however, the Holsteiners arrived, and at
Lohede (28. July) they gained the victory over the Danes;
the young king and his mother fell into the hands of the
enemies. But now showed M.her untiring energy, from
her prison in Hamburg she called for the help from Albert
of  Braunschwig; he suceeded in getting her out of prison,
and they returned to Denmark together. Hertug Albert was
appointed the vice-regent of Denmark, and M noticed
gladly, how violently he behaved against the opponents of
the royal house; she even fell in love with the young hertug,
so is it said in the Braunschwig-Chronicle. In 1263 Albert
left Denmark, but the next year could M. fetch her own
son  back, and he was declared of age in 1266.

At this time M. had for life bwwn given Estonia to be in her
ownership as a widow. She was still the ruler of the kingdom
for a long time, and her energy was probably due to that the
archbishop-feud ended in a good way - and also that
hertugdømmet (duchy) after Erik Abelsøn's death 1272 again
came back to the Crown. Later she is more retired, and she
died in December 1282 during a stay in Rostock; in the
nearby Cisterciense-Abbey in Doberan, to which her father
had a friendly relationship, she found her last rest, and here is
still seen a strange wooden sculpture of her, which before was
a cover over her sarcophagus.

Her byname Sprænghest (jumping horse) suited well to all the
energy M, showed while she was a widow; in legends she is
also called Sorte Grethe (Black Grethe), but here is she mixed
with her great namesake, Margrethe Valdemarsdatter.
According to some it was M. who built a part of Danevirke,
called Margrethevolden, which however is not very possible.
M. gave some estate to the Holy Cross Kloster in Rostock;
soon after her death it was told that she had founded the
kloster and given it a splinter of the Holy Cross, which she
personally had received from the pope, and which during
her way home had saved her and her entourage in a storm
at the sea; everything was told in a document, which was
said to be from the queen herself, but the authenticity of
this document is uncertain.

Script, rer. Prussicarum I, 690 f.
Videnskab. Selsk. Skr., Hist. phil. Afd., 5. R. IV, 377 ff.
Aarb. f. nord. Oldkynd. 1877, S. 55 ff.; 1881, S. 50 ff.

Kr. Erslev.

Abel, 1219-1252, ~ Mechtild of Holstein --1288.

Abel, 1219-52, King, a son of king Valdemar
Sejr and his second wife Berengaria. At his
older brother Erik's election to king he
became in 1232 his successor as hertug of
Sønderjylland, which vasalry he took over
in 1237. At the same time he married, according
to an earlier agreement a daughter of grev Adolf
of Holstein, Mechtild. When grev Adolf shortly
after joined a kloster, he was for some years
a guardian for his underage brothers-in-law.
At his father's death in 1241 he became the
owner of a large part of the royal family's
inheritance, among this everything in the duchy,
and the cities Svendborg, Fåborg, Skelskør and
Rudkøbing. The mixed ownerships caused a
feud between him and the king; but it was not
an open fight, until Erik in 1246 had a break
with the mighty Hvide-family and shortly
after withdrew Svendborg to the royal estate.
In the years 1247-48 there were battles with
varying luck in Nørrejylland, at Funen and
Sønderjylland, until the sister Sophie of
Brandenburg succeeded in mediating peace
between the brothers. When the king's man
Henrik Æmeltorp in Rensborg was attacked by
the Holstein grafs, king Erik visited on his
way to his rescue his brother in Schleswig,
but was treacherously taken prisoner; A.'s men
Tyge Bost and Lage Gudmundsen let him kill and
lowered his body into the Slien (10 August).
After A. had disclaimed the responsibility
for E.'s murder, he was elected king and was
crowned in Roskilde (1 Nov. 1250). King
A. showed he was clever and moderate, and it
seems he was the most intelligent among king
Valdemar's left sons. He tried to help the
cities and promoted the relations abroad,
and by wise concessions he brought down the
unrest.But before the new conditions were
able to consolidate, he died, 33 years old,
a violent death in the fight against the
rebellious Frisians, 29 June 1252. His death
and his successor's interest in weakening the
sons' demand for the throne branded him as
a fratricide.
- His wife Mechtild survived him for many years;
she joined a kloster, but left it again and
married the Swedish jarl Birger, who died shortly
after. She died in 1288.

A. D. Jørgensen.

Mechtilde (Mathilde), Dronning, --1288, was a
daughter of Grev Adolf IV of Holstein; she was
probably named after her paternal grandmother.
In 1237 she married Hertug Abel of Jutland,
according to an earlier agreement between Valdemar
Sejr and grev Adolf, and she gave birth to several
sons.This marriage became fatal for Denmark by
drawing Abel towards Holstein; after his father-in-law
had joined a kloster, he was for a period guardian
for his young sons and defended later these
against his brother Erik Plovpenning. After Erik's
death M. was crowned  together with Abel in
Roskilde (1. Nov. 1250); but two years later she
had to leave the kingdom, and only with difficulties
she managed to have her firstborn son, Valdemar,
released from prison at the archbishop of Cologne,
but after he had got his paternal duchy transferred
he died in 1257. M. had to fight for her children's
right of inheritance again, she joined archbishop Jacob
Erlandsen ; and she broke the ww pf chastity she had
given after Abels death, and she married in 1261
Birger Jarl in sweden in order to find some
support there too. He died already in
1266, and M.resided since that in Kiel. She
made the base of the Holstein influence in Sønderjylland;
in 1260 she pawned to her brothers the land between
the Eider and Slien, and just before her death (1288) ,
she actually gave away this land, which she claimed to have
inherited from her eldest son. She was therefore very
hated in Denmark, and the Danes claimed that this
"German woman, a daughter of the Devil" had destroyed
the valuable adkomstbreve ( documents of title), which
Valdemar Sejr had got from emperor and pope on the
land north of the Elb.

Kr. Erslev. 




Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
Project Runeberg
1887-1905

translation grethe bachmann  ©​ copyright

Erik IV Plovpenning, 1216-1250, ~ Jutta of Saxony, --1250--

Erik Plovpenning, 1216-50, king
was Valdemar Sejrs and Berengarias firstborn son,
who soon after his birth in 1216 was appointed
hertug (duke) i Jylland. He replaced in 1226
his halfbrother Valdemar as a prisoner in
Schwerin and was released 1230. After his brother's
death he was crowned king in Lund by archbishop
Uffe on Whit Sunday (30. May) 1232. E. was said
to have studied in Paris and he was here aquainted
with the later pope Innocents IV. When pope Gregor
IX started a parti in Germany against emperor
Frederik II and tried ti have him ousted, E. was
offered the throne (1239) but he refused. it seems
was active by his father's side in the government
of the country. He married 9. October 1239 Judith
or Jutta, a daughter of hertug Albrect I af Saxony.
While E. was said in his younger years to be very
fond of the joys of life, he was later serious and
pious. One of the first letters, he issued after
his accession to the throne - at his father's death
28. March 1241 --, holds a declaration that he
want to die dressed in the dress of the Fransiscans
and to be buried in their Kloster in Roskilde.
Besides his winning attitude and his energy he
was also very belligerent and during his government
Denmark was in an eternal state of unrest.

His brother Abel was hertug in Sønderjylland, but
he considered this land more like inheritance than a
royal vasalry; in his marriage to the Holstein
princess Mechtild, and in the guardianship of his
underage brothers-in-law, which he took, his
position became dangerous, and E., who hoped to
regain his father's power over Holstein, was ready to
fight. When the war broke out 1242, lasting for 2 years,
a ceasefire happened, but 1246 the fight was renewed,
and Abel, who had attracted his brother Christoffer
to join his party, and who was assisted by Germany,
harrassed in Jutland and at Funen, burnt down 
Odense and conquered Ribe. E. reconquered this
town and his German allies fell into Holstein and
conquered Oldeslo. E. occupied now all his brothers'
castles and estates and took Christoffer and his
halfbrother hertug Knud prisoner. Moved by this sad
feud E.s sister, margrafin Sophie of Brandenburg had
already in autumn 1247 went up to mediate between
the brothers; she died on her travel in childbirth
without seeing any peaceful solutions.

E.s  was during these years also threatened,
because he had a feud with bishop
Niels Stigsen of Roskilde, i.e. about the ownership of
Copenhagen, which brought the bishop to leave the
country 1245. E.s relation to the clergy, which made
complaints about injustice of the Crown, was very
tense, and the feud with the bishop also showed a
beginning break with the mighty Hvide-family,
which he was a member of. Finally the king had to
see the Lübecks join his enemies and plunder the
Danish coasts; they captured and burnt Copenhagen.
In the year 1249 there was a pause of the war, and
the king tried to organize the Estland-expedition, he
had been preparing for long. Already in the re-start
of the bishopric in Reval in king Valdemar's last
years had E. been active, and a fight against the
heathens inside this country and at the borders
were always on his mind. On this occassion E. let
impose a tax of every plough, which caused a
rebellion from the peasants in Skåne. E. was
driven out of Lund and Helsingborg and had to
go to Sjælland, but returned a few days later, and
a peace and agreement were achieved (1249).
This tax caused that the king got the byname
Plovpenning. The expediton was carried out,
but the historian Arild Huitfeldt says that a battle was
never fought with the heathens.


In 1250 E suddenly attacked Sønderjylland and
conquered Schleswig; he was not lucky in a fight
against the Frisians, but Abel had to
surrender. 20 noblemen swor the agreed peace
on behalf of the duke and promised to leave him, if
he was not true to the king. In a dispute with E.
Abel showed that his grudge was stronger than ever,
and that he remembered how his daughter, caused by
E.'s attack "had barefooted to seek shelter
among poor women". He let E. take prisoner
by his kammermester Tyge Bost; maybe Abel did
not order to kill his brother, but his men knew
how to obey his wishes. E. was brought with shackles
on hand and foot down to a boat on the Slien, another
boat came near, where the king's worst enemy Lage
Gudmundsen was. E. saw that death was near, and
asked to be allowed to confess to a priest.They allowed
this and fetched a priest, to whom the king confessed
humbly, then they decapitated him with a sword.
It happened in the night of the10th August 1250. The
body was lowered into the fjord, but some fishermen found
it the next day and brought it to Schleswig, where the
Black Friars buried it in their church; later the body was
moved to St. Hans Nunnery in Schleswig and found at
last its place in Ringsted Kirke. E.s murderers were
soon after killed in various pitiful ways, and when rumours
were spread about miracles by the grave, people began
regarding the murdered king as a saint. E. was never
adopted among the saints of the church, but he was
honoured as a saint by the people, and various Gilder
(Unions) chose him as a patron.

Queen Jutta gave birth to 2 sons, who died young, and
4 daughters: Sophie, married to king Valdemar of Sweden,
Ingeborg, married to king Magnus Lagabøter of Norway,
Jutta and Agnes, who joined a nummery, but later left it.
The queen later married Burchard VIII, Borggreve of
Rosenburg by Harzen.

Suhm, Hist. af Danmark X.
Hist Tidsskr. 6. R. II, 359 ff.

Johannes C. H. R. Steenstrup.

Jutta, --1250--, queen, 
was a daughter of the Saxon hertug Albrecht(+1260)
of the Askanian House in his 1. marriage to a 
daughter of an Austrian duke, Agnes, and she 
married in 1239 the Danish king Erik Plovpenning.
She is mentioned as a witness in a letter where 
her husband a few months after his father king  
Valdemar's death told his wish about being buried in
the dress of the Fransiscans and to be buried in their 
church in Roskilde. Or else there is only an information 
about Jutta, while she lived at Skanderborg, that 
she was harrassing the monks at Øm kloster, she took  
their harvested corn and brought it on boats to 
her castle. J. had several children with Erik. It is 
uncertain if there were sons, if so they must have 
died before their father; four daughters are known, 
two became queen: Sophie in Sweden and Ingeborg  
in Norway, while Jutta and Agnes went to a 
nunnery for a period. After Erik's murder in 1250 she 
probably went soon to her home in Germany.She married
later Burchard of Rosenburg who was borggreve
in Magdeburg. A daughter of this marriage was 
Sophie who was married to Erik of Langeland. 

Kr. Erslev
 

Dansk Biografisk Lexicon

Project Runeberg

1887-1905 

translation grethe bachmann  ©​ copyright 

Valdemar II Sejr, 1170 -1241, ~ 1) Dagmar of Bohemia, +1212; ~ 2 ) Berengaria of Portugal, +1221; and relation to Helena Guttormsdatter

Valdemar II Sejr, 1170-1241, king, son of  Valdemar I
the Great and queen Sophie, was born around Midsummer's
day 1170. Already when young his bold and lively personality
awoke great expectations, and he was an obvious choice as
hertug (duke) in Sønderjylland, which his father and
grandfather had been.This position was however entrusted
to his cousin bishop Valdemar Knudsen, but when V. became
18 years of age, the position was given to him. The
relationship between the two cousins soon became tense,
and V. took several castles and estates from the bishop,
probably with good reason, since he discovered that his
cousin joined the enemies of the country; and the bishop
was not backed up by the papal delegate who arrived to
examine his complaints.The bishop fled to Sweden shortly
after, and when he later recklessly attacked Denmark, V.
took him prisoner.

Grev (count/graf) Adolf III af Holstein was a very restless
neighbour and showed both on this occasion and later on an
obvious enmity towards Denmark;  but he also caused
aversion in his own country, and several members of the
displeased groups went to see V. in Schleswig. In order to
discipline him V. fell in 1201 into Holstein and conquered the
open land and Hamburg and Lübeck, but he was not able to
win Lauenborg. In a bold attack Adolf took back Hamburg,
but V. stood unexpectedly  outside the banks on Christmas
Eve, and Adolf had to redeem himself by giving Lauenborg
to V. The citizens of Lauenborg would not agree to this,
and Adolf had to go to prison, which raised a tremendous
hilarity in Denmark.When king Knud died without sons 12.
Nov. 1202, V. was unanimously elected king; archbishop
Anders Sunesen crowned him on Christmas Day in Lund's
cathedral. The next summer V. went with a large army to
the Elb; he was greeted as the lord of Nordalbingien in
Lübeck,  and Lauenborg surrendered soon after, when
grev Adolf was released. V. installed his sister's son, the
young grev Albert of Orlamünde as lord of Nordalbingien,
and he governed the land with just and skill.

V. made an expedition to Norway in June 1204 to support
the throne pretender of the Baglers, Erling (Stenvæg); the
swords were not drawn however, and the expedition was
of no importance. Although Erling greeted V. as overlord,
V. did not mingle in Norwegian affairs later on either. But
there was still unrest at the southern border of the kingdom,
not least caused by that V. on intercessions had released
bishop Valdemar from prison, and that the bishop in spite
of his oath let himself  be elected archbishop of Bremen.
The two brothers grev Gunzelin and Henrik of Schwerin
showed furthermore a hostile attitude, why V. let the
grevskab (county) occupy and forced them to greet him as
their feudal overlord. During the feud between Germany's
two rulers, Otto IV and Philip, V. took sides with Otto
and  supported him with money and auxiliaries, but after
Philip was murdered (1208), Otto felt safe and was ready to
turn his weapons against Denmark. Otto soon had a rival,
Frederik II, and since he still gained more power in
Germany, V. joined him. Frederik II was not interested
in the northern parts of Germany, and he gave all lands north
of the Elb and its tributary Elde (Dec. 1214) to V. This cession
was soon confirmed by the popes Innocents and Honorius.

But V. wanted to expand his power to more distant places,
he wanted to free the Baltic Sea of pirates and spread
Christianity to the heathen people along its coasts. After
an expedition to Øsel, which he conquered, but which he did
not keep occupied (1206), he went on a crusade to Preussia
and Samland, and the duke of Pommerellen had to pay
tribute to him (1210). The most important event was the
large expedition to Estonia in 1219. With a fleet of 1500 ships
he landed at Lyndanise. The Estonian chiefs seemed willing
to surrender and to be baptized, but one evening they
treacherously attacked the Christian army, who had to fight
a very tough fight with the Estonians, but who also defeated
them completely. The tradition has to this battle connected
the tale about the cross banner (Dannebrog), which fell from
the sky, while a voice was heard, that promised a victory
to the Danes under this sign - so the Danes attacked again
and  won. With a strongpoint of the built castle Reval the
Danish power spread across the country; V. lead two
expeditions there (1220, 1222), but the possession was still
not secure, and he lost it when the bad years arrived.

Before the story about these is told, it has to be told about
V.'s personal relations. He got married late. Before that he
had a relationship to Helena, the daughter of the Swedish
jarl Guttorm; she was a widow after Esbern Snare. She had
the son Knud with V. With an unknown woman V. had a
son Niels, who was married to Oda, a daughter of grev
Gunzelin of Schwerin, she died early and left a son, Niels.
Finally V. married in 1205 the Bohemian princess Dragomir
(Dagmar), whose beauty and goodness won her all hearts;
she gave in 1209 birth to the son Valdemar, but died already
24. May 1212. Two years later V. married the beautiful
princess Berengaria of Portugal; she gave birth to the sons
Erik, Abel and Christoffer and a daughter Sophie. The next
birth cost her life 27. March 1221.

In the night of 6.-7. May 1223 a drastic change happened in
V.s and his country's history. The king was together with his son
Valdemar on a hunt at the island Lyø, when grev Henrik of
Schwerin broke into the tents and after a short fight brought
the kings as prisoners down to his ships. Grev Henrik wanted
to revenge that V., probably wrongfully, on behalf of his
son's son and under the absence of grev Henrik, who was in
the Holy Land, had captured the half ot the castle Schwerin,
since it was a pawn for the dowry of Henriks brother's
daughter Oda. Henrik brought the prisoners to his castle
Lenzen, and then to a castle Dannenberg upon the left bank
of river Elb. This deed awoke dismay and instantaneous
irresolution in Denmark. Grev Albert took over the job as
rigshøvedsmand  (vice regent), and the Danes addressed
first of all the pope for assistance. After emperor Frederik
in vain had made efforts to have the king handed over,
various attempts were made in order to achieve an
agreement with grev Henrik; the conditions were very hard,
and it was said that the Danes interrupted the negotiations
themselves. The allied German princes, who had freed
themselves of obedience to V., attacked Holstein;  Albert
lost a battle at Mølln (Jan. 1225), he was taken prisoner and
put in jail in Schwerin, to where the kings now had been
brought. Denmark lost Lübeck, and Hamburg surrendered to
grev Adolf. There was now no other way out than closing an
agreement on the toughest conditions. The king had to pay
45.000 Mark silver and much more, he had to give up all
countries south of the Eider and the countries in the Wend,
except Rügen and what belonged to this island. V. and the
other prisoners had to be released gradually, dependent on
the payment of the ransom.

At Christmas time 1226 V. returned to Denmark, and he was
still cautious for some months after the release, but then his
vengefullness awoke, and pope Honorius released him from
the oath he had sworn grev Henrik. He attacked Holstein,
but the battle at Bornhøved 22 july 1227 brought him a
decisive defeat; furthermore he lost one eye in the battle.
From now on V.'s politics changed completely. In some
negotiations with grev Henrik's widow he achieved in
Schleswig in 1230 an agreement, where the sum of
the ransom was  considerably reduced, and the young
princes, who had gone to prison instead of their father
and brother, could now return to Denmark. V. entered
into friendly relations with the north German princes;
his son Abel married a daughter of grev Adolf of Holstein,
and his other children were married to princes in Germany.
The costy ransom had brought a strong economic pressure
on Denmark, and in 1230 came other serious troubles,
namely both cattle plague and famine, which killed many
people; the year after lost V. his oldest son, so he had to
undergo some dark hours.  But he became matured by the
disaster and displayed during the last decade of his rule an
important work in the government of the inner circumstances
of the country.

V. was during all his rule a true friend and protector of
the church; the archbishop Anders Sunesen was an
excellent assistent in his crusades; bishop Gunner in Viborg
was a faithfull adviser. By numerous gifts to churches and
klosters or by favours he showed his warm interest for
the ecclesiastical life. Most important of his work was
his close relation to the popes and their always ready
assistance in his enterprises. Innocents III had been his
helper in the feud against bishop Valdemar and the
German princes, Honorius III had been working for his
release from his imprisonment; Gregor IX had in many
ways helped him lighten the econimic burden in his latest
ruling period. All these popes also showed by several
pardons, how highly they appreciated him and his work
for the Danish church. Pope Gregor also helped V.
getting back Estonia. V. had not given up regaining his
supremacy there, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were
very pressed by the heathen neighbours; and by some
clever negotiations in Rome V. made the pope order the
Livonian Brothers to give back Estonia to Denmark. In an
agreement in Stensby at Vordingborg 1238 the German
Knigh'ts Order - of which the Livonian Brothers of the Sword
were now a part - transferred the landscapes Reval, Harrien
and Wirland to king V.

In all parts of the government was king V.'s influence obvious.
Statistic and economic informations were gathered about
the income of the country, the crown's estate and the royal
ancestral estate, which is seen in "Kong Valdemars Jordebog".
V. issued several statutories, but it was especially his great
credit to let compose "Jyske Lov" with the advise from the best
men of the country; it was issued in Vordingborg in March
1241, and it has had an immense importance for the judicial
life of the Danish people. During the next 100 years is referred
regularly to the system of justice at king V.'s time as the normal
and golden age. The first 20 years of his rule gave him the
byname "Sejr" (Victory), which he was called since the 16th
century, but he was also entitled to be named lovfører (legifer),
which he was called already in the 14th century. The least
accepted from his government was that he gave much land to
his sons (Abel got Sønderjylland, Niels Nørrehalland etc.) or
to relatives. Some transfers were necessary compensations for
the loss from the unlucky years, others were by V. considered
useful for the defense of the country, but the following times
showed the danger by such an outparcelling.

King V. died on Maundy Thursday 28. March 1241 in
Vordingborg and was buried in Ringsted church. - there are
no informations about V.'s looks and almost nothing about
his personal appearance.  But it is sure that he was highly
respected by everyone, nothing is mentioned about any
enemy among Danish men, nothing is heard of if he ever
bore grudge to anyone. There was no rebellion or unrest
during his rule, even in those years where he was imprisoned.
An evidence about his many interests is that several Icelandic
scalds went to see him  and was received with hospitality. Olaf
Hvítaskáld mentions the king's great knowledge, and how he
tried to convert the runic alphabet into Latin letters. Icelandic
sagas call V. the most excellent king in the Nordic countries.
Contemporary sources from Denmark speak of him with
gratitude and admiration, and the tradition never invented an
evil deed ; it has only praised him for being a victor and was
sad for him in his misfortune. When he died - an annual spoke
like this not long time after - "faldt Kronen af de danskes
hoved". (the crown fell from the head of the Danes.)

Kilder:
Johannes C. H. R. Steenstrup.

Dansk Biografisk lexicon
Project Runeberg
Carl Fr. Bricka
(1887-1905)

translation grethe bachmann  ©​ copyright