DENMARK, 
Abel's a a a rinees of Holftein, with whom 
e was at war a d him eee murdered 
at fea, Abel ce wever aiid not long enjoy a crown which 
he had fo infamoufly acquired. His fubjedts having nifen 
in arms againft him in 1252, he was flain m a battle which 
‘he fought to quell the inforre@ion 
Chr: :topher I., who fucceeded “Abel on the uaa had 
to refift the ufurpations of feveral rivals. e fortu- 
nate fucceffor, Eric Menve 
awe. But under Chriftopher II. the kingdom wa 
the moft violent faGions. The nobles affumed pean) 
; the towns to refift them, fent deputies to the her. 
ki ingdom 5 ; and the peafants or far- 
hae nobles that were not in the king’s badine oe n to 
e 
death of Eric, duke of gers Rk happened in 1325, 
increafed his difficulties, The duke having left a fon under 
age, Chriftopher claimed the ecardicatip of the young 
prince ; but his claim was refifted by Gerhard, earl of Hol- 
i i iftopher had re- 
Encou 
age ae thei s defeat, his rebellious 
fubj<As procsined that Chridzpher and his eldeft fon Eric 
had forfeited the crown. Eric fell into the hands of the 
rebels, who kept him clofely confined ia a eh caftle. The 
Len ae was alfo Wald ft pro 
duchy oo as an hereditary and independent fief to 
The fatious barons provided for them 
moft as foon annulled as formed. Waldemar kept the 
duchy a Slefwick ; Gerhard took poffeffion of Jutland and 
The difcontented nobles fhared the 
S 
the province ook y part of his do 
that recognized hie ae ority. Eric his eldeft fon had paid 
the debt of nature before him, Otto the youngeft was a 
prifoner of Gerhard, by whom he had been defeated in 
battle. The fugitive bbe yaaa be found an afylum at 
the court of the emperor of 
any. 
Waldemar of Slefwick now eae med the crown; but 
of Chi riftopher 
+, to the throne. orted by the emperor and the 
margraves of Brandenburg, he eafily recovered oe hereditary 
dominions, and reigned by the name of Waldemar ITI. 
treaty of peace was concluded between the new est ea the 
duke of Slefwick, and ae earl of Holitein. The duke re- 
nounced the crown, but kept the duchy as an hereditary 
Waldemar II]. foon redeemed the provinces he 
been mortgaged. cilful negociation with Magnus Sm os 
king of hte ended in the recovery of Schon i "Halland. 
and Bkkin During his reign the foundation was laid 
to that sale combination which for is than a century 
Aa a large portion of the north of Europe to the 
nifh coe and effeéted the {till lafting union of Norway 
oi Denm Waldemar had a daughter named Marga- 
ret, who to ae graces of her fex joined talents and quali- 
Vou. XI. 
ties which are eigen confidered as the exclufive appa- 
nage of men, and w in the fequel gained a the furs 
name of the een of the North. Her he married to. 
Hakon aie or Haquin VII. king of Norway, "oe to the 
king of Swe 
Wald Ui. died in the year 1378, and with him ended 
the hel of the arte in the male line. His gran:’« 
fon Olaf or Olaus fuc the throne of Denmark, 
and after ine death of ae ae of Norway, afcended !ike- 
wife the throne of that kingdom. But his reign was not 
long ; be died very youny, nine years after his giandiaths r 
Waldemar. His mother ea ial ou ill a widow, in- 
herited the dou . crown to wh ere was no male 
pirant ie old Senin on infpired her with a 
molt exienfive pr ojset. 
Sweden was a prey to domeftic convulfions. Difcord 
raged among the nobles, the clergy, and the people. Albert 
of Mecklenburg had been called to the Swedifh throne. Def. 
titute of the qualifications requifite to {upprefs faGtious tu- 
mults, he fell a viétim to national brows, Merearet, whofe 
them emiffaries who prepared ae minds of the 
her vaft deft A. love intrigue with one of the moft d: (. 
tinguifhed Swedith noblemen enabled her to gain partizans 
among the nobiity, and an ardent zeal for the interefts of 
monarch too 
iaoae was fought in the year 1389, confirmed his mif- 
“ae of her triple diadem, Margaret affembled the 
ftates of the three kingdoms i in the town of Calmar, sa 
propofed a perpetual union of the three crowns, which wa 
decree d fon, Eric of Pomerania, was pro 
claimed her Je The me sal ge pies of which tbe 
Ion was ed, was conclu of July 
I 397 | and is ooen by the sopelicae of the - Union 2 
“ . “neither Margaret’s immediate fueceffor Eric, nor 
Chriftopher of Bavaria, who was chofen to fucceed the lat- 
ter, being nae of any fhare of Margaret’s abi! iia 
the union of Calmar was not of long duration. Norwa 
alone continued united with Denmark. The kingdom of 
the union in the 
ture the younger 
owever, was not yet formally diffolved ; but at length the 
impolitic condu& of Chriftian or Chriftiern II. was the fip- 
nal ef an infurrefion, which broke afunder the political 
Swrnrn, that had been forged for Sweden at Calmar. See 
WED 
year 1448, after Chriftopher of Bavaria, the 
Dance hoe Chriftiern or Chriftian, poe of Old den burg, for 
their king. He reigned by the name o riftian I., and 
His fon John was ch 
Preieae, Like all the preceding Linge who were cledted 
by ftater, John, and his fon Chriftian II., who fucceeded 
him in 1513, were obliged to fign at their “aeceffion to the 
tone, a capitulation or charter of privileges, by. which they 
3H grant 
