|1105 to 1126.|
The long reign of this monarch was one of calamities, occasioned chiefly by his jealousy of his nephew Canute, second son of the late king. Henry king of the Obotrites, a Slavonic people who dwelt on the Baltic coast from Mecklenburg to Pomerania, was nearly connected with the royal house of Denmark, his mother being Sigritha, daughter of Sweyn II. As the Obotrites had been subdued by at least two Danish kings, and forced to embrace Christianity, they were regarded in the light of vassals. But Henry, more powerful than any of his predecessors, since he had reduced other Slavonic tribes to his yoke, would be no vassal to Denmark, though he was certainly one to Germany. He first demanded his mother’s dowry, which he asserted had never been paid; and when it was refused, invaded the southern part of Jutland. Nicholas marched against him, and was defeated. To arrest the career of the invader was reserved for Canute, who had been invested by his father with the ducal fief of Sleswic. This prince not only cleared the duchy of its invaders, but carried the war into the country of the Obotrites. Henry now sued for peace, and was thenceforth the friend of his nephew. Canute had saved Denmark from many evils; and his conduct now showed that he was no less excellent a governor than he had been a general. He exterminated the banditti, restored the empire of the laws, and caused the arts of life to flourish. His reputation gave much umbrage to the king; nor was that feeling diminished when, after the death of Henry, he was presented by the emperor Lothair with the vacant regal fief. With this augmented power he maintained tranquillity the more easily, not in his ducal fief only, but in the whole of Denmark. His eldest brother Harald, whose vices had excluded him from the throne, made many hostile irruptions into Jutland; but Eric, his next brother, was no less ready than he to protect that kingdom.
|1126 to 1132.|
The contrast between the conduct of Nicholas and of Canute made a deep impression on the Danes. On two of them, the king and his son, it was no less painful than it was deep. To hasten his destruction was the object of both. The first attempt was to accuse him of some crime in the assembly of the states; but he defended himself so powerfully, that he was unanimously absolved. Disappointed in this view, Magnus requested an interview with him, under the pretext of settling all differences amicably; and, while unsuspicious of danger, assassinated him. All Denmark was in instant commotion. The kindred of the victim hastened to the meeting of the states, and displaying his bloody garments, called for vengeance on the murderers. To escape the popular indignation, Magnus fled into Sweden; but Nicholas, who relied on the support of a party, endeavoured to brave the storm. He was, however, solemnly deposed, and Eric, the brother of Canute, elected in his stead. But he refused to comply with the decree. He collected troops, and took the field against his rival, who exhibited no less activity in his own behalf. In the civil war which followed, the bishops took part, and fought like the temporal nobles. Canute had been the vassal of Lothair, and had demanded the assistance of the empire; and that monarch collecting a small army, marched into Jutland to co-operate with Eric in avenging the death of Canute. Seeing that the junction of the emperor and Eric must be fatal to his cause, Nicholas withdrew the former from the alliance by the offer of a large sum of money, and by consenting to hold Denmark as a fief of the empire. Lothair then returned, leaving the fortune of war to decide between the two kings.
|1132 to 1134.|
The retreat of the Germans was the signal for renewed and more fierce hostilities between the rivals. With his usual perversity Harald forsook the cause of his brother Eric, to fight for Nicholas; and Magnus, who had powerful armies in Sweden, brought reinforcements to the war. Success was varied: on the deep Magnus was defeated; on the land, Eric. But some acts of more than usual barbarity perpetrated by Nicholas and Harald at Roskild, diminished the number of their supporters. Still they were enabled to make another stand on the coast near the gulf of Fodvig in Scania. Victory declared for Eric: Magnus fell in the battle; and Nicholas, with much difficulty, escaped into Jutland. Among the slain were five bishops, and sixty priests. As Magnus was dead, Nicholas declared Harald, the brother of Eric, his successor,—a declaration which did no good to his own cause. To escape the pursuit of his rival, he threw himself into Sleswic, which was better fortified than any city in the North. But this was an imprudent act: in that city the memory of Canute was idolized; and there he was massacred by some members of a fraternity of which the deceased prince had been the head. Thus fell a monarch who in the early part of his reign had afforded his subjects reason to hope that he would prove a blessing to the realm, but whose subsequent conduct had covered him with universal odium.
ERIC IV.
SURNAMED EMUND.
1135–1137.
|1135 to 1137.|