from 12 - Towards nationally organised systems of government
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
The killing of Knud Lavard, son of King Erik Ejegod, in January 1131 (see Chapter 8(b)) started a period of dynastic strife in Denmark. Fighting went on until 1157 when Knud Lavard’s son Valdemar I, ‘the Great’, became sole ruler. His reign and those of his two sons, Knud IV (1182–1202) and Valdemar II ‘the Victorious’ (1202–41), constitute the so-called Valdemarian age of Danish medieval history. This was the period when a high medieval kingdom of European type emerged, consolidated by an ordered succession to the throne, by crusades against the Slavs, and by subjugation of the land north of the river Elbe. In spite of a planned coup against Valdemar I and a rebellion against the influential Archbishop Absalon (1177–1202) domestic affairs prospered due to stable government and active legislation.
In 1223 Valdemar II and his eldest son were taken prisoners by the German count of Schwerin and had to pay a huge ransom. This was a crushing blow to the Danish expansionist policy which finally ended when Valdemar lost the battle of Bornhøved in Holstein against a north German coalition in 1227. He was forced to relinquish all conquests in Germany with the exception of the island of Rügen which had come to Denmark in the days of Valdemar I. Valdemar II also managed to keep Estonia which he had conquered in 1219. The rest of his reign he spent consolidating his kingdom.
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