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VALDEMAR II

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 842 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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VALDEMAR II ., See also:

king of See also:Denmark (1170-1241), was the second son of Valdemar I. and See also:brother of Canute VI., whom he succeeded on the 12th of See also:November 1202. Already during his brother's lifetime, as See also:duke of See also:Schleswig, Valdemar had success-fully defended Denmark against See also:German aggression. In 1201 he assumed the offensive, conquered See also:Holstein, together with See also:Ham-See also:burg, and compelled See also:Count See also:Henry of See also:Schwerin to acknowledge the over-lordship of the Danish See also:crown. Immediately after his See also:coronation, he hastened to his newly won territories, accompanied by the See also:principal See also:civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries of Denmark, and was solemnly acknowledged See also:lord of Northalbingia (the See also:district lying between the See also:Eider and the See also:Elbe) at See also:Lubeck, See also:Otto IV., then in difficulties, voluntarily relinquishing all German territory See also:north of the Elbe to Valdemar, who in return recognized Otto as German See also:emperor. Thus the three bishoprics of Lubeck, Ratzeburg and Schwerin, which hitherto had been See also:fief of the Reich, now passed under Danish See also:suzerainty. Lubeck was a peculiarly valuable See also:possession. The See also:city had been founded in 1158 with the See also:express See also:object of controlling the Baltic See also:trade. Only through Lubeck, moreover, could supplies and reinforcements be poured into the German military colonies in See also:Livonia. By closing Lubeck Valdemar had German trade and the German over-seas settlements entirely at his See also:mercy. This See also:state of things was clearly recognized by German statesmen, and in 1208, when the Emperor Otto See also:felt more secure upon his unstable See also:throne, he became overtly hostile to Denmark and would have attempted the recovery of the lost German territory but for the interposition of See also:Pope See also:Innocent III., who threatened to excommunicate any German See also:prince who should attack Valdemar, the equally pious and astute Danish king having undertaken, at the bidding of the See also:holy see, to See also:lead a crusade against the See also:heathen Esthonians. Valdemar's position was still further strengthened when See also:Frederick II., the successful See also:rival of Otto IV., was, in 1215, crowned at See also:Aix-la-Chapelle. Valdemar at once cultivated the friendship of the new emperor; and Frederick, by an imperial brief, issued in See also:December 1214 and subsequently confirmed by Innocent III. and See also:Honorius III., formally renounced all the German lands north of the Elbe and Elde, as well as the Wendish lands on the Baltic, in favour of Valdemar.

An See also:

attempt by Otto in 1215 to recover Northalbingia was easily frustrated by Valdemar, who henceforth devoted himself to the See also:extension of the Danish See also:empire over the eastern Baltic shores. Here, however, he had already been forestalled. At the end of the 12th See also:century the whole of the Baltic littoral fromsemi-See also:Christian See also:Pomerania to orthodox Pleskow was fiercely and obstinately See also:pagan. The connecting See also:link between the western and the eastern Baltic was the isle of See also:Gotland, where German merchants from Lubeck had established a See also:depot (the later See also:Visby). The See also:fur-trade with the Esthonians and Livonians proved so lucrative that a German See also:colony was planted in Livonia itself at what was afterwards See also:Riga, and in 1201 for its better See also:security the colony was converted into a bishopric. A still firmer footing was gained by the Germans on Livonian See also:soil when See also:Abbot Theoderick of Riga founded the See also:order of the See also:Sword (a See also:foundation confirmed by the pope in 1204), whose See also:duty it was to convert the heathen Esths and Livs and appropriate as much of their See also:land in the See also:process as possible. Two years later Valdemar, urged by See also:Archbishop Anders Suneson, also appeared off the Esthonian See also:coast and occupied the isle of See also:Oesel. In 1210 Valdemar led a second expedition eastwards, this See also:time directed against heathen See also:Prussia and See also:Samland, the See also:chief result of which was the subjection of Mestwin, duke of Pomerania, the leading chieftain in those parts. Now was to be seen the determining See also:influence of See also:sea-See also:power even in those days. Despite its See also:superior weapons and mode of warfare, the German See also:east Baltic colony was constantly in danger of being overborne by the endless assaults of the dogged See also:aborigines, whose hatred of the See also:religion of the See also:Cross as preached by the knights is very intelligible; and in 1218 See also:Bishop See also:Albert of Riga was driven to See also:appeal for assistance to King Valdemar. Valdemar cheerfully undertook a new crusade " for the See also:honour of the Blessed Virgin and the remission of my own sins." In 1218 he set See also:sail for See also:Esthonia with one of the largest fleets ever seen in See also:northern See also:waters, including a Wendish contingent led by Prince Vitslay. Landing at Lyndantse (the See also:modern See also:Reval) in north Esthonia, Valdemar at once received the submission of the inhabitants, but three days later was treacherously attacked in his See also:camp and only saved from utter destruction by his own See also:personal valour and the descent from See also:heaven, at the See also:critical moment, of a red banner with a See also:white cross on it, the Dannebrog (Danes' See also:Cloth), of which we now hear for the first time, and which henceforth was to precede the Danish armies to victory till its See also:capture by the Ditmarshers, three See also:hundred years later.

This victory was followed by the foundation of Reval and the occupation of Harrien and Wirland, the northern districts of Esthonia, by the Danes. Valdemar was now, after the king of See also:

England, the most powerful potentate in the north of See also:Europe. The See also:south-western Baltic was a Danish Mediterranean, and Danish territory extended from the Elbe to See also:lake See also:Peipus. But this scattered and heterogeneous empire required a large See also:standing See also:army and a strong central See also:government to hold it together. It is doubtful whether even the See also:genius of Valdemar would have proved equal to such a stupendous task. He never had the opportunity of attempting it. In May 1223 he was seized at midnight in his See also:tent on the isle of See also:Lye., whither he had come to See also:hunt, by his See also:vassal and See also:guest Count Henry of Schwerin, and conveyed with his son and many other valuable hostages to the inaccessible See also:castle of Dannenbergon-Elbe. In this See also:dungeon he languished for two and a See also:half years, and, despite all the efforts of Pope Honorius III. on his behalf, was ultimately forced to pay a heavy See also:ransom, and surrender Northalbingia and all his Wendish conquests except See also:Rugen. On his See also:release Valdemar attempted to retrieve his position by force of arms, but was utterly defeated at the See also:battle of Bornheved (22nd of See also:July 1227), which deserves a See also:place among the decisive battles of See also:history, for it destroyed at once and for ever the Danish dominion of the Baltic and established the See also:independence of Lubeck, to the immense detriment in the future of all the Scandinavian states. On the other See also:hand Valdemar, by prudent See also:diplomacy, contrived to retain the greater portion of Danish Esthonia (compact of Stensby, 1238). With rare resignation Valdemar devoted the See also:remainder of his See also:life to the See also:great See also:work of domestic reform. His noblest achievement in this respect is the codification of the Danish See also:laws known as the Jydske Lov (See also:Jutland See also:Code), which he lived to see completed a few days before his See also:death at Vordingborg on the 28th of See also:March 1241.

Valdemar was twice married, his first See also:

consort being Dragomir (Dagmar) of Bohemia, his second Berengaria of See also:Portugal. All his four sons, Valdemar, See also:Eric, See also:Abel and See also:Christopher became See also:kings of Denmark. See Danmarks Riges Historie, vol. i. pp. 736-849 (See also:Copenhagen, 1897-1905). (R. N.

End of Article: VALDEMAR II

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