|1202.|
As Canute VI. died without heirs male, the choice of the states fell on his brother Valdemar, duke of Sleswic, who, as we have just related, had given some proofs of military talent.
|1203, 1204.|
Like his predecessor, the new king repaired to Lubeck to receive the homage of the conquered inhabitants; and there he assumed the titles, “King of the Slavonians,” and “Lord of Nordalbingia.” In the midst of his triumph he offered to release count Adolf, provided the latter would for ever renounce all pretension to Holstein with his other domains north of the Elbe, and engage not to make war, either personally, or through his allies, on the king of Denmark. The conditions were accepted; and hostages being given for their execution, the count was enlarged. Imprisonment seemed to have sobered him; for he passed the rest of his days in tranquillity.
|1204 to 1210.|
Having fomented the troubles of Norway in revenge for the aid given to bishop Valdemar, and exacted an annual tribute from Erling, whom he had opposed to Guthrum[[153]], the Danish king departed on a more distant expedition,—against the pagans of Livonia. It was attended, however, with no great success: the best that can be said of it is, that it was not disastrous. A subsequent expedition into Sweden was more unfortunate: he was signally defeated; but peace was made on terms sufficiently honourable. About the same time the national arms regained their former lustre by the conquest of Eastern Pomerania, the duke of which did homage to Valdemar.
|1205 to 1218.|
From the prison to which he had been consigned by Canute VI. the bishop of Sleswic was no inattentive spectator of events. He longed for revenge; but he must first recover his liberty. In this view he applied to the pope, to the archbishop of Lund, to many prelates of Denmark, and even to the queen, and interested them so far in his behalf, that Valdemar, at their intercession, agreed to release him, on the condition of his never again entering Denmark, or any other place where he might give umbrage to the state. Of these conditions the pope was a guarantee, and he repaired to Bologna; but that city he soon left to urge his interests with the chapter of Bremen, some members of which showed a disposition to elect him. The king immediately complained to Innocent III. that Bremen was, of all cities, that where the bishop, if elected, would be most likely to injure him; and the pope, admitting the justice of the plea, commanded the prelate to desist from aspiring to the vacant dignity. That command he disregarded. Philip of Swabia, now head of the empire, was hostile to the Danish king: from him the bishop readily obtained troops, and with them hastened to Bremen, where he was soon elected. But Burkard, the other candidate, being favoured by the chapter of Hamburg, which had a voice in the election equal to that of Bremen, also assumed the archiepiscopal dignity, and obtained troops from the Danish king. What confirmed the triumph of the latter was the suspension of bishop Valdemar by the pope, and the death of his patron Philip. Otho, the new emperor, concurred with the pope and with Valdemar in expelling the bishop from Bremen. But on the death of Burkard, bishop Valdemar was introduced to the see, with the full concurrence of the emperor. In revenge, the Danish king espoused the interests of Frederic II. king of Naples, in opposition to those of Otho. For this service the grateful Frederic ceded to the Danish crown the conquests which Valdemar and his predecessor, Canute VI., had made in the empire and in Slavonia. But the letters-patent containing this cession (dated from Metz in 1214) could have no validity, since Otho was yet obeyed by a considerable portion of the empire. Still the cession was a triumph. Not less so was the excommunication of Otho and of archbishop Valdemar by the pope. The first soon died; the latter, succeeded by the bishop of Osnaburg, retired to a monastery, and was for ever dead to the world.
|1219 to 1223.|
Freed from the cares which had so long distracted him, the king again turned his eyes towards Livonia. His former successes in that region had not corresponded with his preparations: the bishop of Riga was persecuted alike by the pagan inhabitants and the Greek Christians: the glory of vindicating the true faith was no slight one in his estimation; but the ambition of reigning over the whole maritime coast of the Baltic, from Holstein to Livonia, was a still greater inducement for undertaking a new expedition. Never had Denmark equipped so great an armament as that which now left her ports. The Esthonians, against whom his attacks were chiefly directed, prepared to receive him, but they were defeated; a new city, Revel, was built, to awe the province; and a Christian bishop made it his metropolis. The advantages resulting from this conquest were almost neutralised by the hostility of the bishop of Riga, who regarded his new brother as an intruder on his own domain. He claimed the greater part of Esthonia as a part of his jurisdiction, and he sent his missionaries through it to reclaim it from idolatry. On the other hand, the archbishop of Lund, in behalf of his royal master, prohibited those missionaries from labouring in their vocation, and sent those of his own country and his own church to oppose them. It will scarcely be credited by modern readers—though the fact seems indisputable—that the Danes actually hung an Esthonian prince for no other crime than that he had received baptism at the hands of the bishop of Riga’s dependents. What were the motives—shrewd though pagan—to infer from this and similar facts other than this—that the god of the Danes was not the god of the Germans? The pope and the emperor declared for the Danish king, in opposition to the complaints, the remonstrances, of the bishop. At length Valdemar, of his own accord, abated much of his pretensions, and allowed a portion of the disputed territory to be ceded to the bishop, and to the Christian knights whom that bishop had taken into his service.