Abel of Denmark
Encyclopedia
Abel of Denmark (1218 – 29 June 1252) was Duke of Schleswig from 1232 to 1252 and King of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
from 1250 until his death in 1252. He was the son of Valdemar II
Valdemar II of Denmark
Valdemar II , called Valdemar the Victorious or Valdemar the Conqueror , was the King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. The nickname Sejr is a later invention and was not used during the King's own lifetime...
by his second wife, Infanta Berengária of Portugal
Berengária of Portugal
Berengaria of Portugal , was a Portuguese infanta, later Queen consort of Denmark. She was the fifth daughter of Portuguese King Sancho I and Dulce of Aragon. She married Danish King Valdemar II and was the mother of Danish kings Eric IV, Abel and Christopher I.-Background:Berengaria was the...
, and brother to Eric IV
Eric IV of Denmark
Eric IV, also known as Eric Ploughpenny , was king of Denmark from 1241 until his death in 1250. He was the son of King Valdemar II of Denmark by his wife, Infanta Berengária of Portugal, and brother to King Abel and King Christopher I.-Early life:...
and Christopher I
Christopher I of Denmark
Christopher I was King of Denmark between 1252 and 1259. He was the son of Valdemar II of Denmark by his wife, Infanta Berengária of Portugal. He succeeded his brothers Eric IV Plovpenning and Abel of Denmark on the throne. Christopher was elected King upon the death of his older brother Abel in...
.
As Duke of Schleswig, Abel came into conflict with his brother, King Eric IV, whose murder in 1250 he was suspected of orchestrating. Upon taking an oath to clear himself of the allegations, he was elected king. After a short reign, he was killed during a military expedition in Frisia
Frisia
Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...
.
Abel's reign was the shortest of any Danish monarch since the 9th century. He founded a line of Dukes of Schleswig - the "Abel family" - which ruled the Duchy of Schleswig until 1375.
Early life
At the election in 1232 of his elder brother EricEric IV of Denmark
Eric IV, also known as Eric Ploughpenny , was king of Denmark from 1241 until his death in 1250. He was the son of King Valdemar II of Denmark by his wife, Infanta Berengária of Portugal, and brother to King Abel and King Christopher I.-Early life:...
as their father King Valdemar II's
Valdemar II of Denmark
Valdemar II , called Valdemar the Victorious or Valdemar the Conqueror , was the King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. The nickname Sejr is a later invention and was not used during the King's own lifetime...
coruler and heir, Abel was chosen to succeed Eric in his position as Duke of Schleswig.
In 1237 he married Matilda of Holstein, a daughter of Adolf IV, Count of Holstein. As Count Adolf withdrew to a Franciscan friary the same year, Abel spent several years acting as regent for his under age brothers-in-law, John and Gerhard.
Duke of Schleswig
At the death of Valdemar II in 1241, Duke Abel's brother Eric acceded to the throne of Denmark as Eric IV. The following years Duke Abel fought against his brother, trying to gain independence for the Duchy of Schleswig. He raided north as far as RandersRanders
Randers is a city in Randers municipality on the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 60,656 . Randers city is the main town of the municipality and the site of its municipal council.-Overview:Randers municipality has 94,750 inhabitants...
, ravaging Eric's supporters and then moved into Funen
Funen
Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
. Eric struck back a year later surprising Abel's garrison at Schleswig
Schleswig (city)
Schleswig is a town in the northeastern part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the Kreis Schleswig-Flensburg. It has a population of about 27,000, the main industries being leather and food processing...
, forcing Abel's young daughter Sophie to flee "without so much as a pair of shoes for her feet."
The fighting continued until Abel's sister Sophie of Brandenburg brokered a truce between Duke Abel and King Eric that held until 1250 when Eric was murdered while a guest at Duke Abel's residence at Schleswig.
King
Eric IV was slain by Abel's chamberlain, Lave Gudmundsen and others; the king's headless body dumped into the SchleiSchlei
The Schlei is a narrow inlet of the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. It stretches for approximately 20 miles from the Baltic near Kappeln and Arnis to the city of Schleswig. Along the Schlei are many small bays and swamps...
.
Even though Abel and twenty-four noblemen swore an official oath ("dual dozen's oath", in Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
"dobbelt tolvter-ed") that the Duke had no part in the killing, it was widely believed that King Eric was murdered at his brother's bidding. "Abel by name, Cain by his deeds" (Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, "Abel af navn, Kain af gavn"), or so people said.
After clearing himself of the allegations taking the oath, Abel was proclaimed King of Denmark at the Viborg
Viborg, Denmark
Viborg , a town in central Jutland, Denmark, is the seat of both Viborg municipality and Region Midtjylland. Viborg is also the seat of the Western High Court, the High Court for the Jutland peninsula...
Assembly (Danish: landsting) on 1 November 1250.
Death
Abel only ruled for a year and a half. King Abel received word that the peasants in FrisiaFrisia
Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...
, led by Sicko Sjaerdema
Sicko Sjaerdema
Sikke Sjaardema was the eighth potestaat of Friesland, a province of the Netherlands. The potestaat was the elected provincial ruler.-Biography:...
, refused to pay the tax levy. Abel raised an army to punish them. At the age of 33, he was killed by a wheelwright named Henner on Husum Bridge near Eiderstedt
Eiderstedt
Eiderstedt is a peninsula in the district of Nordfriesland in the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein.-Overview:It is approximately 30 km in length and 15 km in width and has been created through diking from three islands: Eiderstedt around Tönning, Utholm around Tating, and...
on 29 June 1252.
At the time, Abel's half-grown son Valdemar was held for ransom by the Archbishop of Cologne
Archbishopric of Cologne
The Electorate of Cologne was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire and existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the temporal possessions of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne . It was ruled by the Archbishop in his function as prince-elector of...
, and so Abel's youngest brother Christopher I
Christopher I of Denmark
Christopher I was King of Denmark between 1252 and 1259. He was the son of Valdemar II of Denmark by his wife, Infanta Berengária of Portugal. He succeeded his brothers Eric IV Plovpenning and Abel of Denmark on the throne. Christopher was elected King upon the death of his older brother Abel in...
, was crowned King on Christmas Day 1252 in Lund Cathedral
Lund Cathedral
The Lund Cathedral is the Lutheran cathedral in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the bishop of Lund of the Church of Sweden.- History :...
.
After her husband's death, Queen Matilda entered a convent but later left it again. In 1261 she married Birger Jarl
Birger jarl
, or Birger Magnusson, was a Swedish statesman, Jarl of Sweden and a member of the House of Bjelbo, who played a pivotal role in the consolidation of Sweden. Birger also led the Second Swedish Crusade, which established Swedish rule in Finland. Additionally, he is traditionally attributed to have...
of Sweden.
Legacy
Most people at the time viewed Abel's sudden death as God's judgment on him for the murder of his brother. As Abel's body lay in Schleswig CathedralSchleswig Cathedral
Schleswig Cathedral , officially the Cathedral of St. Peter at Schleswig , is the main church of Schleswig and was the cathedral of the Bishop of Schleswig until the diocese was dissolved in 1624...
, the monks heard strange sounds in the church at night. They said they were too afraid to go into the church after that. They believed that Abel's unholy ghost walked abroad at night. Consequently, the kings body was taken outside the church and stuffed into a soggy grave near Gottorp Castle outside Schleswig. Someone rammed a wooden stake through Abel's chest to make sure he remained in his grave. It was said long after that the king's ghost found no peace and from time time there were reports of "Abel's wild hunt" where a black faced man on a white horse and glowing hounds hunted across the moors and forest of Schleswig.
Abel's descendants — the "Abel Family" — ruled South Jutland until 1375, often in co-operation with their relatives in Holstein
Holstein
Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
, and they created a permanent problem for the Danish government. Their rule meant the eventual separation of Frisia, Holstein, and most of Schleswig from the rest of Denmark.
Marriage and issue
With his wife, Mechtild of HolsteinMechtild of Holstein
Matilda of Holstein or Mechthild was a Danish queen consort, married to King Abel of Denmark and then to Birger Jarl, Regent of Sweden.-Biography:...
, whom he married on 25 April 1237;
- Valdemar IIIValdemar III, Duke of SchleswigValdemar III Abelsøn was Duke of Schleswig from 1253 until his death in 1257. He was the eldest son af King Abel of Denmark, Duke of Schleswig and Matilda of Holstein.-Life:...
(1238–1257); Duke of Schleswig 1254–1257 - Sophie (born 1240, d. aft. 1284), married Bernhard I, Prince of Anhalt-BernburgBernhard I, Prince of Anhalt-BernburgBernhard I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Bernburg....
- Eric IEric I, Duke of SchleswigEric I Abelsøn was Duke of Schleswig from 1260 until his death in 1272. He was the second son of King Abel of Denmark, Duke of Schleswig and Mechtild of Holstein.-Early life:...
(c. 1241 – 27 May 1272); Duke of Schleswig 1260–1272 - Abel (1252–1279)