Horik II
Encyclopedia
Horik II, also known as Erik Barn (Danish: "Erik the Child"), was King of Denmark
from the murder of Horik I
in 854 to c. 860s. After a brief civil war which nearly wiped out the branches of the royal family, legend has it that a single royal child was left alive, hence the name Erik the Child. The problem with the story is that at the time there was no hereditary kingship. Kings were literally shouted into office at the assemblies (Danish: landsting) by the chiefs and peasants who supported him. Horik II, whose own lands lay in extreme southern Denmark, including Hedeby, emerged as the strongest of the claimants. Little is known about him except for few references in Saxo Grammaticus
' Gesta Danorum
and The Life of Ansgar
by Rimbert
.
Horik was probably not the son of Horik I, but a close relative, perhaps a nephew or grandson of the powerful Gottfredson clan who held power in much of Denmark. Sons were not usually named after fathers in Viking Denmark.
During his reign, Danish Vikings under Ragnar Lodbrog and others began raiding and then colonizing England, eventually capturing York and much of northeast England.
Although not a Christian, Horik II was tolerant of the Christians among his people and of the missionaries from the Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen who found their way north. Horik became acquainted with St Ansgar during Horik I's reign and shared his view that regarding religious matters there was no better or upright man in his kingdom. After a brief closure of the church at Hedeby by Jarl Hovi, Horik II was persuaded by Ansgar to reopen the ruined church and permit a new church at Ribe. Horik even allowed them to ring church bells for the first time, much to the disgust of the non-Christians who believed the bells would frighten off the land sprites (Danish: landvætter) and ruin the harvest.
In 857 the Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Bald
ordered Horik to give up his lands between the Eider River
and the North Sea
in retaliation for Viking raids on Paris and the Loire Valley. Rorik of Dorestad was attempting carve out a Frisian kingdom between the Saxons and the Danes with the help of the emperor. Rorik had a claim on the throne as valid as Horik's, and after three failed attempts to take Schleswig, he enlisted the emperor's help. While Rorik was off on a Viking raid, other Vikings sacked his capital at Dorestad. Horik was able to hold onto southern Denmark in spite of Rorik and the emperor's demands. Horik prevented a thinly veiled attempt to add southern Denmark to the Carolingian Empire.
In 864 Pope Nicholas I wrote to Horik encouraging him to become a Christian. When Horik refused, the pope asked Charles II to coerce the conversion of Horik.
About 866 Horik gave permission for a third Danish church to be built in Århus during the time of Bishop Rimbert, Ansgar's successor.
Sometime in the 860s Horik died and his successor Bagsecg
was also a pagan and hated the Christian faith by which Bagsecg allowed no churches to be built in Denmark so only the three remained and Christianity was just a small minority, In 870 Bagsecg gathered a Viking army now known as The Great Summer Army and sailed to England
and went pillaging they had been gone all year and In 871 Bagsecg allied with his successor Halfdan Ragnarsson
who was also in England pillaging they got caught up into a conflict The Battle of Ashdown
and Bagsecg was killed and Halfdan became his successor by which both of these two men were not a member of Gottfredson clan and by which after Horiks death the clan held no more power over 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 the murder of Horik I
Horik I
Horik I reigned as sole King of Denmark from 827 to his violent death in 854. His reign was marked by Danish raids on the Franco-German empire of Louis the Pious, son and successor of Charlemagne....
in 854 to c. 860s. After a brief civil war which nearly wiped out the branches of the royal family, legend has it that a single royal child was left alive, hence the name Erik the Child. The problem with the story is that at the time there was no hereditary kingship. Kings were literally shouted into office at the assemblies (Danish: landsting) by the chiefs and peasants who supported him. Horik II, whose own lands lay in extreme southern Denmark, including Hedeby, emerged as the strongest of the claimants. Little is known about him except for few references in Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus also known as Saxo cognomine Longus was a Danish historian, thought to have been a secular clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, foremost advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author of the first full history of Denmark.- Life :The Jutland Chronicle gives...
' Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...
and The Life of Ansgar
Vita Ansgari
Vita Ansgari is the biography of Ansgar, written by Rimbert, his successor as archbishop in Hamburg-Bremen. Written in about 875 CE, the Vita is an important source in not only detailing Ansgar's missionary work in Scandinavia but in its descriptions of the everyday lives of people during the...
by Rimbert
Rimbert
Saint Rimbert was archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg from 865 until his death.A monk in Turholt , he shared a missionary trip to Scandinavia with his friend Ansgar, whom he later succeeded as archbishop in Hamburg-Bremen in 865...
.
Horik was probably not the son of Horik I, but a close relative, perhaps a nephew or grandson of the powerful Gottfredson clan who held power in much of Denmark. Sons were not usually named after fathers in Viking Denmark.
During his reign, Danish Vikings under Ragnar Lodbrog and others began raiding and then colonizing England, eventually capturing York and much of northeast England.
Although not a Christian, Horik II was tolerant of the Christians among his people and of the missionaries from the Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen who found their way north. Horik became acquainted with St Ansgar during Horik I's reign and shared his view that regarding religious matters there was no better or upright man in his kingdom. After a brief closure of the church at Hedeby by Jarl Hovi, Horik II was persuaded by Ansgar to reopen the ruined church and permit a new church at Ribe. Horik even allowed them to ring church bells for the first time, much to the disgust of the non-Christians who believed the bells would frighten off the land sprites (Danish: landvætter) and ruin the harvest.
In 857 the Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.-Struggle against his brothers:He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder...
ordered Horik to give up his lands between the Eider River
Eider River
The Eider is the longest river of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The river starts near Bordesholm and reaches the southwestern outskirts of Kiel on the shores of the Baltic Sea, but flows to the west, ending in the North Sea...
and the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
in retaliation for Viking raids on Paris and the Loire Valley. Rorik of Dorestad was attempting carve out a Frisian kingdom between the Saxons and the Danes with the help of the emperor. Rorik had a claim on the throne as valid as Horik's, and after three failed attempts to take Schleswig, he enlisted the emperor's help. While Rorik was off on a Viking raid, other Vikings sacked his capital at Dorestad. Horik was able to hold onto southern Denmark in spite of Rorik and the emperor's demands. Horik prevented a thinly veiled attempt to add southern Denmark to the Carolingian Empire.
In 864 Pope Nicholas I wrote to Horik encouraging him to become a Christian. When Horik refused, the pope asked Charles II to coerce the conversion of Horik.
About 866 Horik gave permission for a third Danish church to be built in Århus during the time of Bishop Rimbert, Ansgar's successor.
Sometime in the 860s Horik died and his successor Bagsecg
Bagsecg
Bagsecg was a Viking leader referred to as a 'King' and was possibly a King of Denmark, after Horik II died and ruled Denmark after his death from the 860s to his death in 871...
was also a pagan and hated the Christian faith by which Bagsecg allowed no churches to be built in Denmark so only the three remained and Christianity was just a small minority, In 870 Bagsecg gathered a Viking army now known as The Great Summer Army and sailed to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and went pillaging they had been gone all year and In 871 Bagsecg allied with his successor Halfdan Ragnarsson
Halfdan Ragnarsson
Halfdan Ragnarsson was a Viking chief and one of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok with Aslaug. It has been suggested that Halfdan is the same person as Ragnar's son Hvitserk....
who was also in England pillaging they got caught up into a conflict The Battle of Ashdown
Battle of Ashdown
The Battle of Ashdown, in Berkshire , took place on 8 January 871. Alfred the Great, then a prince of only twenty-one, led the West Saxon army of his brother, King Ethelred, in a victorious battle against the invading Danes.Accounts of the battle are based to a large extent on Asser's "Life of...
and Bagsecg was killed and Halfdan became his successor by which both of these two men were not a member of Gottfredson clan and by which after Horiks death the clan held no more power over Denmark.