Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The current Danish monarchy traces its roots back to Gorm the Old, Hardegon's son,
who reigned in the early 10th century from Jelling in central Jutland. His son, Harald
Bluetooth, who ruled for 35 years, concluded the conquest of Denmark and also completed
Denmark's adoption of Christianity, partly to appease his powerful Frankish neighbours to
the south who, a century earlier, had sent the missionary Ansgar to build churches in the
Danish towns of Ribe and Hedeby.
Harald Bluetooth's son Sweyn (Svend) Forkbeard (r 987-1014) and grandsons Harald II
(r 1014-18) and Canute the Great (r 1019-35) conquered England, establishing a short-
lived Anglo-Danish kingdom over much of the British Isles. Canute the Great was the first
true Danish king to sit on the throne of England, reigning in much the same manner as an
English king except that he employed Scandinavian soldiers to maintain his command.
When Canute's son Hardecanute died, the balance of power shifted to the English heirs
of Alfred the Great, although many of the Danes who had settled in England elected to
stay on.
Unsuccessful attempts by the Danes to reclaim England followed, and the defeat of the
Norwegian Vikings by Harold II of England at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 her-
alded the end of the Viking era.
The Danish Monarchy can be traced back to Viking king Gorm the Old, who ruled from c
936 to his death in c 958. The monarchy is the oldest in Europe.
The Bloody Middle Ages
Internal strife, plots, counter plots and assassinations involving rival nobles, wealthy
landowners and corrupt church leaders blighted the early medieval era.
King Valdemar I eventually united a war-weary country and enacted Denmark's first
written laws, known as the Jyske Lov (Jutland Code) in Vordingborg, southern Zealand.
His successors enacted other laws that were quite progressive for their time: no imprison-
ment without just cause, an annual assembly of the
hof
(national council), and the first su-
preme court.
Margrethe, who had assumed de facto control of the Crown after her young son Oluf
died in 1387, became the official head of state and Denmark's first ruling queen. The next
year Swedish nobles sought Margrethe's assistance in a rebellion against their unpopular
