(1) Denmark: Political History and Notable Figures

936 - 958 - Gorm the Old (All Facts)

• First Historical King and Founder of the Kingdom of Denmark

  • His son’s real last name lends itself to his own name

• He was the last Danish King that practiced Norse Paganism

• He commissioned the first of the “Jelling Stones” in the town of Jelling in Denmark, which commemorated the memory of his wife Thyra

958 - 986 - Harald Bluetooth (All Facts)

• 2nd King of Denmark

  • He was also King of Norway

• He converted to Christianity, having accepted baptism, and thus made Denmark a Christian Kingdom by the start of his reign, having forsaken the old gods of Norse paganism

  • Some said he was converted as the result of an argument with a missionary, Bishop Poppo, during which the namesake challenged Poppo to prove his faith by ordeal

    • When the missionary agreed, he thrust his hand into a white-hot iron glove and when he withdrew his hand, it was unharmed

    • Witness to such a miracle, the namesake king conceded that Christ was the one true God and that Christ alone should be worshipped in Denmark

  • Others said he was converted as a result of his defeat to Otto the Great and was forced to convert as part of the price of defeat

    • While there was much grumbling among those who feared the revenge of the old Norse Gods during his reign, he was eager to be on good terms with Otto the Great and Germany and the Holy Roman Empire while he simultaneously expanded his influence in northern Europe

• He commissioned the second of the two “Jelling Stones” in the town of Jelling in Denmark, which commemorated

  • His parents, his predecessor father and his wife, the namesake’s mother, Thyra

  • His conversion of the Danes to Christianity

  • His unification of Denmark and conquest of Norway

• He embraced Christianity and promoted its spread, helping establish an organized church structure in Denmark

• He spread his influence north by supporting his widowed sister Gunnhild and her five sons in their fight for the throne of the Kingdom of Norway

  • He also designed to expand his territory into modern-day Sweden

986 - 1014 - Sweyn Forkbeard (All Facts)

• 3rd King of Denmark

  • He was also King of Norway and King of England

  • He consolidated his rule by revolting and overthrowing his predecessor and father

• He and Olaf the Norsemen of the Vikings attacked England under the reign of their King Aethelred II “The Unready,” even after Aethelred II had paid the Vikings off, ravaging throughout southern England and collecting massive tribute payments from Aethelred II

  • They failed to take London initially

• He and his Danish forces eventually took control of all of England following the English surrender of London to them

  • Their King Aethelred II “The Unready” was deposed and was reported to have fled to France to join Queen Emma and their children, who have taken refuge with her brother, the Duke of Normandy

  • He and his forces subjugated the English forces and were not prepared or willing to take bribes from them

  • He planned to consolidate his hold on England as an act of revenge against Aethelred II “The Unready”

    • This was because he wished to avenge his sister Gunnhild and the Danes killed by Aethelred II “The Unready” in the secret St. Brice’s Day Massacre of Danes living in England which he ordered

    • He retaliated by burning homestead throughout southern England before accepting a substantial bribe to withdraw

    • However, when Aethelred II “The Unready” persuaded one of his top commanders, Thorkell the Tall, to defect, he felt he had no choice but to invade England, and he landed on Humberside and marched south

• He thus became King of England for a short time, usurping the throne, overthrowing the House of Wessex and replacing it with the House of Denmark

1018 - 1035 - Canute the Great (All Facts)

• 4th King of Denmark

  • He was also King of England and King of Norway

  • He thus built a unified Danish Empire

• He was the son of Sweyn Forkbeard and was offered the English throne after defeating his predecessor Edmund Ironside

  • The death of Harald II of Denmark enabled him to unite England and Denmark

  • He defeated Edmund Ironside and his English forces in the Battle of Ashingdon, and they agreed to split England in half

  • When Edmund Ironside was murdered soon afterwards, the namesake took the other half of England

  • He further consolidated his rule by eliminating potential rivals

  • He married Aethelred II’s widow, Emma of Normandy

• He oversaw a reign distinguished by skillful statecraft and utter ruthlessness

  • He espoused Christianity

  • He established equal rights for both Danes and Englishmen

  • He sent most of his army back to Denmark, confident in his position as ruler

1154 - 1182 - Valdemar the Great (All Facts)

• 17th King of Denmark

• He cooperated with the Saxons against the Wends (a group of Baltic Slavs)

1332 - 1340 - Gerhard (All Facts)

• Governor of Denmark

• Count of Holstein

• He was the leader of the Danish aristocracy

• He was murdered

1340 - 1375 - Waldemar IV (All Facts)

• 29th King of Denmark

1387 - 1412 - Margaret (All Facts)

• 31st Queen of Denmark

  • She was an ambitious and skillful politician and gifted diplomat

  • She became regent of Denmark after the death of her predecessor there and father

  • She became regent of Norway on the death of her predecessor there and husband

  • She deposed King Alfred of Sweden and gained possession of that territory thereafter

• During her reign, she

  • Had the Kalmar Union signed; uniting Norway, Sweden, and Denmark as one sovereign state and in which the three entities agreed to

    • be united under one monarch

    • have a common foreign policy

    • settle matters of royal succession by consensus

  • Had her 15-year-old great-nephew Duke Erik VII of Pomerania crowned King of Scandinavia as per the terms of the Kalmar Union

    • This solidified her intention from the beginning to provide the Kalmar Union with a suitable male leader