THE KING'S MIRROR 31 



of Europe and even to Af ricaJ Valdemar the Victorious, 

 in his day one of the greatest rulers in Christendom, 

 married as his first wife Dragomir, a Bohemian princess 

 who brought the Dagmar name into Denmark, and 

 took as his second consort Berengaria of Portugal, 

 Queen Bengjerd, whose lofty pride is enshrined in the 

 Danish ballads of the age. Hakon IV married the daugh- 

 ter of his restless rival, Duke Skule; but his daughter 

 Christina was sought in marriage by a prince in far- 

 away Spain. The luckless princess was sent to Castile 

 and was married at Valladolid to a son of Alfonso the 

 Wise.* Louis IX of France was anxious to enlist the 

 support of the Norwegian king for his crusading ven- 

 tures and sent the noted English historian Matthew 

 Paris to present the matter to King Hakon. f The mis- 

 sion, however, was without results. Norwegian diplo- 

 macy was concerned even with the courts of the infidel : 

 in 1262 an embassy was sent to the Mohammedan sultan 

 of Tunis " with many falcons and those other things 

 which were there hard to get. And when they got out 

 the Soldan received them well, and they stayed there 

 long that winter."! 



An important event of the diplomatic type was the 

 coming of Cardinal William of Sabina as papal legate 

 to crown King Hakon. The coronation ceremony was 

 performed in Bergen, July 29, 1247. At the coronation 

 banquet the cardinal made a speech in which, as the 

 Saga of Hakon reports his remarks, he called particular 

 attention to the polished manners of the Northmen. 



* Hdkonar Saga, c. 294. f Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, IV, 651-652. 

 t Hdkonar Saga, c. 313. 



