History of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, Vol. 2 (of 2)

by S. A. Dunham

1333–1340.

|1333, 1334.|

The two counts of Holstein, who had thus partitioned the kingdom between them, consulted how they might perpetuate their usurpation. The best mode was to delay as long as possible the election of a new monarch; to exclude the two sons of the late king from the succession; and, when an election could no longer be avoided, to procure the union of the suffrages in favour of some prince whom they might control. In any case as their sway might and probably must be brief, their interest lay in deriving the utmost advantage in the shortest possible time from their position. Hence their rapacity, which their armies enabled them to exercise with impunity.

|1334 to 1340.|

Under no circumstances would the domination of strangers have been long borne without execration: that of rapacious strangers was doubly galling. The murmurs which arose on every side emboldened the two sons of Christopher to strive for his inheritance. But they entered the field before their preparations were sufficiently matured. Otho, with a handful of troops supplied by his brother-in-law the margrave of Brandenburg, landed in Jutland. He evidently relied on the popular indignation entertained towards the two usurpers; but he overlooked their means, their military talents, and the ascendancy which years of success had given. He was vanquished, and committed to close confinement, from which he did not escape for many years. To avert another invasion by excluding the sons from all hope to the succession, Gerard turned towards Valdemar, duke of Sleswic, who had been placed on the throne during Christopher’s exile. If the duke succeeded, the duchy became the inheritance of count Gerard; but he would not wait for probabilities. In return for his promised aid, Valdemar, in a solemn treaty, agreed to surrender that province immediately; and if he did not obtain the object of his ambition, he was to receive Jutland in lieu of it. The rights of Gerard over that peninsula, in virtue of the one hundred thousand marks which he claimed from the crown, have been mentioned: these rights therefore he might transfer. In the midst of the negotiation prince Valdemar prepared to return and conquer, or to share the fate of his brother Otho. The people were almost universally favourable to him; and his arrival was expected with impatience. When the Jutlanders heard of the treaty which consigned them to Valdemar of Sleswic, they no longer waited for their prince, but openly revolted. Gerard was compelled to retreat, but only to return with ten thousand German auxiliaries; and with these he laid waste the peninsula. His fate, however, was at hand. A Jutland noble, with fifty accomplices only, resolved to rid his country of a tyrant. Hastening to Randers, where the count lay with four thousand men, at midnight, he disarmed the guard, penetrated into the bedchamber of the regent, murdered him, and escaped before the army was aware of the deed.

|1340.|

Thus perished Gerard, surnamed the Great, a prince of great talents, and of greater ambition. With him perished the grandeur of his house. His sons had not his personal qualities, and they could not maintain themselves in the position in which he left them. Emboldened by the event, the states met, and declared the absent Valdemar, the third son of Christopher (Otho was still in confinement), heir to the throne. The act of election was sent to that prince in spite of the care taken by the counts of Holstein to prevent all intercourse between the country and the exile. Valdemar received it at the court of the emperor, Ludovic of Bavaria; and that monarch immediately enjoined his son, the margrave, to facilitate the return of his brother-in-law. Under the imperial sanction, there was a conference at Spandau. It was there agreed that Otho should receive his liberty on the condition of his resigning all claims to the crown. The new king engaged to marry Hedwige, sister of Valdemar, duke of Sleswic, whose dowry of 24,000 marks was to be deducted from the 100,000 claimed by the sons of count Gerard. Until the rest were paid, Fionia and a part of Jutland were to remain in the hands of the counts. The king was not to protect the murderers of the late count. There were some other conditions of much less moment—all dictated by the necessity of sacrificing much to obtain a greater advantage. This treaty having been solemnly ratified, Valdemar returned to Denmark, and ascended the throne without opposition.

VALDEMAR III.

SURNAMED ATTERDAG.

1340–1375.