|1147 to 1157.|
That the division of the sovereignty would inevitably lead to civil war might have been foreseen by the blindest. It was a long and a bloody one, which, though suspended for a time through the efforts of the pope, who wished all Christendom to arm against the infidels, burst out with renewed fury. Adzer, archbishop of Lund, led the Danish host against the pagans of the Baltic; but the expedition was inglorious; and the remnant which returned from it embraced one of the two parties. The fortunes of both varied; but when Valdemar, the favourite of the nation, joined Sweyn, the advantage was on the side of that king, who gained at least three battles over his rival. At one time Canute was driven from the realm, and forced to seek shelter at the court of the emperor Conrad III. But tranquillity was not the result of his retirement. The Wendish pirates, not satisfied with having defeated the archbishop, and incited by the agitated state of the public mind, ravaged the coasts both of Jutland and of the isles. Finding their king and nobles unable to protect them, the people entered into armed fraternities, which were consecrated by religion. They not only defended their own coasts, but equipped vessels to cruise in the Baltic, and to surprise such of the pagan ships as they might find detached from the rest. In a few years twenty-two of these vessels took above eighty of the enemy’s. Still these were partial, isolated effects, which had little influence over the general mass of misery. When Canute returned as the vassal of the empire, the civil war again raged. Frederic Barbarossa, as the lord paramount, now interfered, and meeting the two parties, decreed that while the title of king of Denmark should be left to the victorious Sweyn, Canute should reign over Zealand as a fief of the Danish crown. This award satisfied neither party, and least of all the nation, which was indignant with both of them for sacrificing its independence to the emperor. Sweyn refused to cede Zealand to his rival; and the civil war was about to recommence, when Valdemar, to whose valour Sweyn owed every thing, prevailed on the one to give and the other to accept, in lieu of that island, certain domains in Jutland and Scania. Peace therefore was procured for the moment; but it was a hollow peace, which the accident of an hour might break.
|1152 to 1156.|
The advantage which Sweyn had gained by the aid of Valdemar he lost by his misconduct. He adopted the German costume; imitated the German manners; expressed much contempt for every thing Danish as in the highest degree barbarous; seldom appeared at the national Thing; restored the old judicial ordeal of duel; became luxurious; and levied high contributions on his people. A disastrous expedition into Sweden made him despised as well as hated; and on his return into Scania, he was assailed by the yellings of the infuriated populace. Something worse than this result would have been experienced by him, had not a chief, named Tycho, one of the most influential in the province, rescued him from his position. When at liberty, he allowed his licentious followers to plunder the inhabitants. Many he put to death; and among them was the brave man who had saved him from their fury. This atrocious ingratitude lost him the favour of Valdemar, who passed over to the side of Canute, and cemented the alliance by marrying the sister of that prince. It was now the object of Sweyn to seize both princes, either openly or by stratagem; but they were on their guard; and each was always surrounded by armed attendants. At length he was vanquished, and forced to seek a temporary asylum in Saxony. But he obtained succour from the duke of that province, and from the archbishop of Bremen, who could never forgive the Danes for forcing the abolition of his jurisdiction over the North, and allied himself with the Slavonic pirates, who were always ready to join any party that offered them plunder. At the head of these forces he returned, and compelled the people to receive him as their king. Again Valdemar and Canute marched against him; but the former, pitying the sufferings of the people, offered his mediation, and tranquillity was for the moment reestablished. The chief condition of this treaty was, that the kingdom should be divided into three sovereignties; that Sweyn should have Scania, Canute the isles, and Valdemar Jutland, in addition to his duchy of Sleswic. The whole people abandoned themselves to joy, and Sweyn pretending to join in it, gave a magnificent entertainment to his brother kings in the castle of Roskilda. But at that very festival, he ordered both to be assassinated. Canute fell; but Valdemar, who defended himself courageously, escaped into Jutland.
|1156 to 1157.|
The reputation of Valdemar, and above all his words, easily induced the people to espouse his cause. Pursued by his active enemy, he was constrained to fight before his preparations were completed. The result, however, was indecisive. In a subsequent and more general action, near Viburg, Sweyn was defeated and compelled to flee. He was eagerly pursued by the victors, who overtook him in a morass, from which the weight of his armour prevented him from emerging; and he was immediately beheaded. Never did the Danes suffer more than under this unworthy prince. Enfeebled at home, degraded abroad, without government or security for either person or substance, they were sunk even in their own estimation. But for these disasters they could only blame themselves; they were the inevitable results of their own folly in dividing the monarchy.
VALDEMAR I.
SURNAMED THE GREAT.
1157–1182.
|1157 to 1169.|