D E N M A R K. 



621 



History. 



Hardy 

 Canute. 



M'gniis. 

 Swein. 



Cai ute IV. 



Olau; II. 

 A. D. 1 086. 



Eric I. 



A. I). 1095, 



Valdemar 

 tiie Great, 

 A. U. 1137 



ftwrnte VI. 

 A. I) 1195. 



Olaus, one of its native princes. Canute was successful 

 in this enterprise, but afterwards returning to England, 

 and leaving the sovereignty of Denmark to his son 

 Hardy Canute, Magnus, the son of Olaus, not only re- 

 conquered Norway, but compelled the Danish monarch 

 to enter into a treaty with him, which gave to the sur- 

 vivor the estates of the other, in case he should die 

 without male heirs. On the death of Hardy Canute 

 without male heirs, Magnus became King of Denmark, 

 and England shook off the Danish yoke. 



Nothing remarkable happened in the reign of Mag- 

 nus, nor in that of Swein his successor. The latter 

 reigned only two years, and was succeeded by his brother 

 Canute the Fourth. The piety or the weakness of this 

 prince, induced him to exempt the clergyirom the civil 

 jurisdiction of the state ; to raise their rank, and increase 

 their stipends ; and at last to attempt to establish the 

 usage of paying tithes. This, however, enraged the 

 people, over the great body of whom he ruled with great 

 severity ; and Canute persevering in his determination, 

 levied the tithes with such rigour, that a rebellion en- 

 sued, and he was slain as he was kneeling before the 

 altar. Canute was succeeded in 1086 by Olaus the 

 Second, during whose reign nothing remarkable occur- 

 red. When he died in 1095, the states elected his bro- 

 ther Eric the First to be king, who renewed the ancient 

 usage of consulting the states before war was declared, 

 or any great enterprise undertaken. After having 

 reigned eight years, this prince died in the ide of Cy- 

 prus, while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. For up- 

 wards of 50 years afterwards, during the reigns of Ni- 

 cholas, Eric the Second, Eric the Third, and Swein the- 

 Third, Denmark was a continual scene of confusion and 

 bloodshed, occasioned principally by the contests be- 

 tween the clergy, the nobility, and the sovereigns. 



In 1157, another epoch in the history of this king- 

 dom commences with the reign of Valdemar the Great. 

 He defeated the Wouds or Slavonic inhabitants of the 

 southern shores of the Baltic ; subdued the isle of Ru- 

 gen, and gained possession of great part of Pomerania. 

 According to the ancient chronicles of Pomerania, he 

 founded the town or the castle of Dantzic, which was 

 originally called Danskwic, or the fort of the Danes. 

 The same chronicles relate, that Valdemar made war on 

 a prince, whose territories lay along the banks of the 

 Vistula, called Sobieslas. Inll6"0, he subdued Cour- 

 land ; and he was enabled, by the friendship and assist- 

 ance of the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa, to retain all 

 his conquests, except the territory on the Vistula, which, 

 on his return to Denmark was re-occupied by Sobieslas. 

 The reign of Valdemar is not more celebrated in Da- 

 nish history for the conquests which he achieved, than 

 for the laws that he enacted, and for the tranquillity and 

 happiness which his wisdom and firmness established 

 among his subjects. He revised and published two 

 codes of laws, one called the Laws of Scania, and the 

 other the Laws of Zealand ; these related entirely to 

 civil matters. He also ch ew up ecclesiastical laws for 

 these provinces. Those laws, in conjunction with the 

 code of Lapland, published by Valdemar the Second, 

 are the source from which the present laws of Denmark 

 are derived ; and in their enactments they are well cal- 

 culated, if properly administered, to protect the rights 

 and property, and secure the tranquillity of the people. 



Valdemar died in 1182, and was succeeded by his 

 son Canute the Sixth, who, in the year 1 195, caused a 

 muster to be made of all the men fit to bear arms in his 

 dominions ; he at the same time issued orders for each 

 province to supply its proportion of shipping, and by 



this means G70 vessels were equipped and manned. • *• 

 In his reign, part of the Duchy of Holstein, and the *"■ 

 cities of Hamburgh and Lubeck, were annexed to the 

 Danish territory, and he received the homage of the 

 Duke of Pomerania and the Prince of Mecklenburg. 

 This prince first admitted the feudal law into Denmark, 

 which soon became the means of reducing the great 

 bulk of the people to a state of the most abject slavery. 

 He paid great attention to commerce, and particularly 

 encouraged the herring fishery. A curious and inte- 

 resting picture of the Danes, at this period, is given by 

 Arnold, the author of the Slavonian Chronicle. In 

 consequence of their commerce with the Germans, he 

 informs us, " the Danes, who were formerly clothed as 

 sailors, are now clothed in red, and in stuffs of other 

 colours, and even sometimes in purple and fine linen." 

 He describes the herring fishery as very productive and 

 lucrative, bringing into the country, " gold, silver, and 

 all other precious things." " Moreover, Denmark is alsa 

 filled with excellent horses, which is owing to the great 

 fertility and goodness of their pasture, ,so that they are 

 distinguished in war by then* cavalry and marine." 

 According to the same authority, at this time it was 

 usual for the nobles of Denmark to send such of their 

 sons, as they designed for an ecclesiastical life, to Paris, 

 to be instructed in literature and polite learning, in 

 consequence of which, this kingdom had made a consi- 

 derable progress in many of the sciences. In the reign 

 of Canute the Sixth, several Danish historians lived, 

 particularly Sucne Aggesen, who has given an abridged 

 history of his own country from the foundation of the 

 government, written in correct, and rather elegant 

 Latin. 



Canute the Sixth died in 1202, and was succeeded by J~' 

 his brother Valdemar the Second. His first object was ''; 

 to obtain from the Emperor of Germany a sanction to 

 his claims on the countries that had been conquered 

 from the empire during the two preceding reigns : ha- 

 ving accomplished this, he invaded Esthonia, not s& 

 much for the sake of conquest, as in order to convert 

 its savage and idolatrous inhabitants to the Christian 

 faith. At first he was unsuccessful; but afterwards, 

 the zeal and enthusiasm of his troops having been ex- 

 cited and directed by the clergy, who accompanied the 

 expedition, the Esthonians submitted to him. By this 

 conquest the Danish power extended both to the south 

 and east shores of the Baltic. In consequence, how- 

 ever, of his having been surprised and carried off, while 

 engaged in the chace, by a prince of Mecklenburgh, 

 the conquered countries revolted ; and before he re- 

 gained his liberty, they had established their indepen- 

 dence. He was defeated in 1227, by the Germans, in 

 an attempt he made to regain Holstein ; and died, oi 

 stripped of most of his conquests, in 1242. This prince A. 

 is much celebrated for the attention which he paid to 

 the laws of Denmark : the code of Jutland has already 

 been mentioned. It was drawn up in consequence of 

 the confusion which prevailed in many parts of the 

 kingdom : several new laws, or modifications of the 

 old laws, had been introduced from Germany, by the 

 doctors and advocates who had studied there, and the 

 people were at a loss to know what was legal, and con- 

 formable to the ancient laws. To remedy this evil, 

 Valdemar convoked a general assembly of the states at 

 Wordingburgh in Zealand, and by this assembly the 

 Jutland code was drawn up; this code, like our magna 

 charta, rather gives a regular and fixed form and autho- 

 rity to the ancient customary and unwritten laws, than 

 creates any new ones. In this code, particular attention 



latury. 



!dc ■• 

 A. l\ 



D. 121 



