Christianity began to spread throughout Denmark when its king, Harald Bluetooth, was persuaded to convert in 965 after the cleric Poppo performed a miracle. He placed his hand in a hot iron glove, and when he removed it, it was unharmed. Bluetooth's conversion was likely for political reasons as much as personal ones. The new religion spread slowly, as most of Denmark still believed in the Norse gods and would only become Christian by the reign of Canute IV in 1080. Conversion methods in the rest of Scandinavia ranged from the peaceful to the destructive. By the twelfth century though, Christianity was established as the main religion due to the conversion of all the kings and earls.
Haakon Sigurdsson, Earl of Lade
In 962, the Earl of Lade, Sigurd Haakonsson, was killed by the King of Norway, Harald Greycloak, beginning the consolidation of his rule over the rest of the country. His son Haakon Sigurdsson, now ruler of Lade, fought the occasional battle against Greycloak. For three years, Haakon successfully held his ancestral territory with an agreement between him and Greycloak that ended the fighting and affirmed his rule of Lade and Harald's kingship. This was not to last, however, as three years later, Greycloak and his brothers had amassed an army to capture Lade. Haakon and his soldiers were able to escape to the south, raid the coastline of More og Romsdal, and then escape to Denmark, though they returned in the
