|1223.|
At this period Denmark was at the summit of her glory. Her descent was more rapid than her rise. There are few instances in all history where that descent is so remarkable. The occasion of this change was a man insignificant in himself, and in his influence. Among the vassals whom Valdemar had acquired by his successes over the count of Holstein, was Henry count of Schwerin. In granting to Henry the investiture of the lordship, Valdemar had demanded the hand of the count’s sister for his natural son Nicholas, whom he had created count of Upper Halland, and, as a dowry, one half of the castle of Schwerin with the dependencies. Whether this stipulation was sanctioned by the count, we know not; but we know that Valdemar had forcibly occupied a portion of the lordship, and conferred it on that son. This was an injustice, and deeply was it revenged. Count Henry repaired to the Danish court, showed great obsequiousness, won the confidence of the king, and one night while encamped in the wood after a hard day’s hunting, he caused both Valdemar and his eldest son to be surprised, carried on board a vessel, conveyed to the Mecklenburg coast, and confined in the strong castle of Schwerin! All Europe was in surprise at an event which resembled a tale of knight errantry more than a fact—that the obscure, the powerless count Henry should thus seize the greatest monarch of the North, and cast him like a common felon into a dungeon.
|1223 to 1226.|
That all Denmark did not rise as one man, and hasten to release its monarch, may, to modern readers, seem extraordinary. But had it done so, we know not what the result might have been. If those were days of chivalry, they were also days of gross perfidy: as an army approached Schwerin, he would have been transferred to some more distant fortress until he had acceded to all the terms demanded from him. Many were the princely nobles who were ready to share in the responsibility of the act, provided they might also share in its advantages; even the emperor Frederic was inclined to imitate the example of his predecessor in regard to Richard Plantagenet. More ruinous to Denmark was the captivity of Valdemar, than that of Richard to England. We shall not detail the negotiations which, during three years, agitated the realm; but the reverses experienced by the Danish arms may be noticed. The new conquests north of the Elbe were lost. Livonia and Esthonia were freed from dependence on the crown. The Slavonic provinces of Pomerania asserted their independence. Lubeck and also Dithmarsh showed a disposition to escape from the yoke. At length the menaces of the pope, and still more the gifts distributed among the leading actors in this strange proceeding, led to the monarch’s release. The conditions were that 45,000 marks of fine silver should be paid for his ransom, with all the gold and ornaments which the queen possessed, and complete habiliments for 100 knights; that forty Danes, including two sons of the king, should remain as hostages; that all the domains between the Elbe and the Eyder should be ceded to the empire; that all the Slavonic conquests should be renounced except the isle of Rugen; that Valdemar should swear never to attempt the reconquest of the territories now abandoned.
|1226 to 1238.|
On his return to his own states, Valdemar applied to the pope to be released from the oath he had taken, and for the restoration of his hostages; promising that if the application were successful, he would join the crusade. In vain did the pope interfere; beyond the release from his oath, he obtained no advantage. There were too many interested in the cause of count Henry to leave him thus exposed to regal or papal vengeance. Adolf of Schawenburg, Albert duke of Saxony, the archbishop of Bremen, the prince of Werle—all had profited by the spoil, and all had troops ready to defend their usurpations. In great wrath Valdemar took the field; but his good fortune had left him for ever; and after many fruitless, however ruinous, efforts, he was compelled to make peace with his enemies, and to pay money for the ransom of his hostages. The loss of Lubeck and of all Dithmarsh grieved him more perhaps than the rest; for Lubeck was already a rich and a populous city, the centre of a large commerce. Equally fruitless were his endeavours to recover the Slavonic provinces. They were in the power of the bishop of Riga, and of the Teutonic knights, who could always depend on the favour of the pope and that of the emperor. Revel and a small district of Livonia were at length restored to him.
|1238 to 1241.|
During the rest of his life, Valdemar applied himself to the internal administration. He caused a survey to be made of the whole kingdom; and of this important document the greater part still remains. There were eight bishoprics, subdivided into parishes, and into Styreshavne or maritime districts, each district to furnish a certain number of men, and each see a certain number of ships, whenever required by the public service. North Jutland had four of these sees—Rypen, Aarhus, Viborg, Borglum, which together supplied 450 vessels. South Jutland, or Sleswic, one see, was divided into 130 of these districts, each to furnish a vessel. Fionia, Laland, and Langeland, forming the diocese of Odinsey, were rated at 100. Zealand, Moen, Falster, and Rugen, which formed the see of Roskild, were rated at 120; Scania, Holland, and Bleking, subject to the archbishop of Lund, contributed 150.
|1240.|
As a legislator, Valdemar ranks high in the Danish annals. In 1240, he promulgated what is termed the Jutland law[[154]], but which he intended for the whole kingdom. The attachment, however, of the Scanias and Zealands to their unwritten customs, inclined them to receive this code as supplementary only. To it we shall revert in the chapter appropriated to northern jurisprudence.