| Valdemar I | |||||
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_%2526_queen_Sophia_(of_Minsk)_of_Denmark.jpg) 1157bracteate depicting Valdemar and his wife, Sophia | |||||
| King of Denmark | |||||
| Reign | 1154 – 12 May 1182 | ||||
| Predecessor | Sweyn III Canute V | ||||
| Successor | Canute VI | ||||
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| Born | 14 January 1131 | ||||
| Died | 12 May 1182(1182-05-12) (aged 51) Vordingborg Castle,Vordingborg, Denmark | ||||
| Burial | St. Bendt's Church,Ringsted, Denmark | ||||
| Consort | Sophia of Minsk | ||||
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| House | Estridsen | ||||
| Father | Canute Lavard, Duke of Schleswig | ||||
| Mother | Ingeborg of Kiev | ||||
Valdemar I Knudsen (14 January 1131 – 12 May 1182), also known asValdemar the Great (Danish:Valdemar den Store), wasKing of Denmark from 1154 until his death in 1182. The reign of King Valdemar I saw the rise of Denmark, which reached its medieval zenith under his son KingValdemar II.[1]
Valdemar was the son ofCanute Lavard,Duke of Schleswig, the chivalrous and popular eldest son of KingEric I of Denmark. Valdemar's father was murdered byMagnus Nielsen days before the birth of Valdemar; his mother,Ingeborg of Kiev, daughter of Grand PrinceMstislav I of Kiev andChristina Ingesdotter of Sweden, named him after her grandfather, Grand PrinceVladimir Monomakh of Kyiv
Valdemar was raised atRingsted in the court of Danish noblemanAsser Rig of Fjenneslev (c. 1080–1151). Asser was a member of theHvide noble family and had been raised together with Valdemar's father Canute Lavard. In their youth, Asser and Canute swore eternal brotherhood by performing the bloodbrother ritual. When Valdemar later arrived in Denmark Asser took him in and raised him together with Asser's sons, includingAbsalon (c. 1128–1201), who would become an archbishop and go to battle with Valdemar, andEsbern Snare (1127–1204), who was a royal chancellor and crusader. Esbern and Absalon became fosterbrothers to Valdemar, and like their fathers, Asser and Canute, Absalon and Valdemar became bloodbrothers. Together, they would form a brotherly alliance that came to dominate Denmark.[2][3][4][5]
In 1146, when Valdemar was fifteen years old, KingEric III of Denmark abdicated and a civil war erupted. Valdemar was a possible contender to the throne. The other pretenders to the throne were:Sweyn III Grathe, the son of KingEric II of Denmark, andCanute V, the son ofMagnus Nielsen, both of whom declared themselves King of Denmark in 1146. The civil war lasted the better part of ten years. In 1154, Valdemar joined with Canute and was recognized as co-king along with Canute. In July 1157, a temporary compromise was struck in which the three agreed to divide the country among themselves as co-regents in shifting alliances.
Canute was killed at the Bloodfeast of Roskilde in August 1157. Sweyn was defeated by Valdemar in theBattle of Grathe Heath (Slaget på Grathe Hede) on 23 October 1157. Sweyn was killed during flight, supposedly by a group of peasants who stumbled upon him as he was fleeing from the battlefield. Valdemar, having outlived all his rival pretenders, became the sole king of Denmark.[6][7]
In 1158, Absalon was electedbishop of Roskilde, and King Valdemar made him his chief advisor. The king reorganized and rebuilt war-torn Denmark. He strengthened the Dannevirke fortifications to the south, He builtSønderborg Castle as a fortified fortress, constructed on an islet in theAls Strait that later was connected toAls Island.[8][9] He reinvented Viking raiding tactics of old to deal with the Wends to the south, which was now optimized for heavy cavalry; this use of amphibious assault was further improved upon by his successorCanute VI.[10]
At Absalon's instigation, he declared war upon theWends who were raiding the Danish coasts. They occupiedPomerania and the island ofRügen in theBaltic Sea and were a definite threat to the Danes in the Baltic as the Wends outnumbered the Danes more than two to one. So the Danes soon began raiding the Wendish coasts in turn; this culminated in the conquest of Rügen, which was used as another base to raid and later conquer more Wendish territory. Danish influence had therefore reached bothPomerania andthe Obotrite confederacy, both being raided routinely by the Danes. Around the year 1170, a smaller contingent of the Danish fleet (headed by Valdemar and Absalon) ventured past the mouth of the Oder, where they were ambushed by a Wendish army and fleet underCasimir, at theJulin bridge (modern-dayWolin) hoping to end Danish raiding. But the Danes outsmarted the Wends and smashed their army and fleet, primarily due to the Danish ships also carrying cavalry.[11] In 1175, King Valdemar builtVordingborg Castle as a defensive fortress and as a base from which to launch further raids against the German coast.[12]
In 1180, as unrest spread throughout the rich province ofScania, the people demanded that Valdemar replace the "foreign" governors fromJutland, and instead install nobility from one of the 'Skåneland' provinces who traditionally ruled them. They also completely refused to paychurch tithes. When Valdemar refused their demands, they rose up, saying they would pay neither taxes nor church tithes. Their numbers were so large that Valdemar not only gathered his own levies but also levies fromBlekinge. The armies met atthe Battle of Dysiaa, where Valdemar crushed them, and after this they once more paid taxes. But even though the entire peasant force surrendered, they still refused to pay tithes, so instead Valdemar had them bring generous gifts and donations to the church. They would pay no tithes but they would pay nonetheless, the only point he conceded were the governors, who were replaced by Scanians.[13] This concession to the Scanians, that a Jute rules in Jutland and Rugian in Rügen, was then optimized for the rest of the Danish realm. This assisted immensely with keeping the peace within the kingdom, and the laterextended realm.
Valdemar marriedSophia of Minsk (c. 1141–1198), the daughter ofRicheza of Poland, dowager queen of Sweden, from her marriage to PrinceVolodar of Minsk. She was the half-sister of KingCanute V of Denmark. Valdemar and Sophia had the following children:
After Valdemar's death, Sophia married LandgraveLouis III of Thuringia.
Media related toValdemar I of Denmark at Wikimedia CommonsValdemar the Great Born: 14 January 1131 Died: 12 May 1182 | ||
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| Preceded by | King of Denmark 1154–1182 withSweyn III (1146–1157) Canute V (1146–1157) | Succeeded by |
| Vacant Title last held by Magnus | Duke in Southern Jutland ca. 1152–1154 | Vacant Title next held by Christopher |
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