Medieval wars in the Duchy of Schleswig 1410 to 1432: and the quest for the Nordic Countries

By Nick B. Svendsen

King Erik VII of Pomerania (1382 -1459) ruled over a vast area, the Nordic Union, which included the kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway, Iceland and Greenland. The union was later named the Kalmar Union. Erik of Pomerania conducted two wars for the quest of the duchy Schleswig against the Holstein Counts. He was not successful and in the end the nobilities in his countries expelled him.

The book is for the readers interested in medieval history and the conflicts of that time. Literature about the contemporary European rivalries is extensive especially the -100 Years War- but when it comes to the conflicts of the Scandinavian countries, books in English are more limited. In many aspects the Scandinavian conflicts are similar to the rivalry between England and France.

This book will remedy some of this shortage.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Release date: Sep 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9788743006879

Nick B. Svendsen

Nick B Svendsen er pensioneret petroleum geolog. Han har arbejdet med kalkbjergartet og flint fra Nordsøen.

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Introduction

The Duchy of Schleswig (Map 1) was the old borderland between the Danish and the German speaking peoples. In the years before 800, Charles the Great created his Carolingian Empire by the conquest of most of Europe. His empire stretched from Italy in the south to the Eider River in the north. When he conquered the Saxon tribes, who were living just south of the Eider River, his empire abutted against the Danish king’s realm. Godfred, the Danish king at that time, perceived Charles the Great to be a significant threat to his power and therefore expanded the Dannevirke rampart.

The rampart is situated at the southern border of the Duchy of Schleswig some 25 km north of the Eider River (Map 7) and it required an army to defend. As the Danish king could not be present, at all times in the borderland he needed a proxy and that was the Duke of Schleswig. In 1232 King Valdemar II the Victorious (1202 – 1241) made his son Abel, Duke of Schleswig. King Valdemar had several sons who were appointed dukes of the other borderlands (e.g. Scania and Lolland) as was the custom at that time. Ironically, Abel’s descendants who became dukes of Schleswig were often in conflict with the ruling Danish king, and usually in alliance with the Schleswig Holstein counts. When Abel's last descendent died in 1375 the

Royal castles in Denmark

Castles in Holstein

Castles in Schleswig

Map 1 - Denmark around 1400

wealthy and powerful counts of Holstein took over the Duchy of Schleswig as a vassal to the Danish king. As count of Holstein he was also a vassal of the German Emperor.

King Erik VII of Pomerania (1382-1359) ruled the Nordic countries from 1397 to 1439 (Fig 1.1). He conducted two wars for the control of the Duchy of Schleswig, the first 1410 – 1423 and the second 1425 – 1432. The latter was also a trade war with the Hanseatic League. They were contemporaneous with the last part of the 100 years’ war between England and France (1337 - 1453). Warfare in both areas reflected common practice of the time with similar armory and battle tactics: mounted knights controlled the battlefields. However, significant change was afoot with the increasing use of gunpowder. Another connection with Europe was relational: King Erik married one of King Henry IV of England’s daughters, Philippa (Figure 1.1).

Fig 1.1 - Erik 7 of Pomerania and Queen Philippa. The drawing of the king is from about 1420 and may be a portrait of the king as he was, while the statue of the queen was made by the Danish sculptor H. W. Bissen about 1850 for the parliament, Christiansborg.

Chapter 1 - The Kalmar Union and Erik of

Pomerania

The road to war

During early medieval times (1100 – 1300), Danish kings conducted an aggressive foreign policy in the Baltic region. They managed to conquer Estonia and control parts of North Germany. However, this expansive policy was costly. When King Erik Menved (Appendix 1) died in 1320, the entire kingdom was mortgaged to the king of Sweden and various dukes and counts of North Germany, including the count of Holstein.

After the Interregnum with no ruler in Denmark from 1332 to 1340, King Valdemar IV Atterdag (1320 – 1375) (Fig 1.2) was elected king of Denmark in 1340 in a deeply indebted country where the various shires and royal estates were pledged to many mortgage holders. Valdemar’s election as king was triggered by an event on April 1, 1340 where the Danish squire Niels Ebbesen killed Count Gerhard of Holstein, the largest mortgage holder. Count Gerhard’s two sons, in order to get their money back, agreed on April 22, 1340 in Spandau, Berlin, that Valdemar should be king. In a complicated trade which also involved the Duke of Schleswig, Valdemar was given the northern part of Jutland as a free estate. At the same time, he married the Duke of Schleswig’s sister, Helvig with whom he had 6 children (Appendix 2). Valdemar Atterdag was son of King Christopher and Queen Eufemia. After his father Christopher II of Denmark was exiled in 1326, Valdemar had entered the imperial court in southern Germany and later he went to Brandenburg to his brother-in-law. In both places he received a first-class modern education. Valdemar’s raison d’etre was to redeem all the mortgages. Bit by bit, with cunning and patience, he began to reclaim the rest of Denmark by redemption of mortgages and/or the use of military power. He sold Estonia to the Teutonic Order (Appendix 5) in order to get money. Estonia had been part of the Danish realm since 1219.

Fig 1.2 - King Valdemar Atterdag (1321 - 1375) with his queen Helvig (? - 1374). The king carries a composite armor, the type which was common among men at arms in the first part of the 14th Century composed of an inner mail shirt with plates on the breast, arms and front legs. Fresco in St. Peders church in Næstved South Zealand.

In 1359, Valdemar’s daughter Margrethe became engaged to 18-year-old Håkon of Norway, the youngest son of the Swedish-Norwegian king, Magnus Smek (1316 – 1379). The marriage was part of a complicated game of power. Magnus was king of both Sweden and Norway and had Håkon elected king of Norway and his eldest son Erik king in Sweden. Sweden was jointly ruled with his son Erik. However, rival interest between father and son resulted in an open conflict. King Magnus therefore made an alliance with King Valdemar against his own son. The marriage agreement between Magnus youngest son and Valdemar’s daughter was a suitable arrangement for an alliance. On the other hand, the arrangement was a perfect opportunity for King Valdemar to get the lost province of Scania back to Danish rule. So, in June 1359 Valdemar landed an army in Scania and captured the province. However, the situation changed drastically for King Magnus in that his son Erik suddenly died. He therefore no longer needed any help from Valdemar and demanded that the Danish army leave Scania. King Valdemar refused to heed the warning and continued the military campaign in Scania. Additionally, in 1361 he took an army to the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic and captured the island as well. King Magnus had to accept defeat and leave Scania and Gotland to Valdemar. During the campaign in Scania Valdemar’s oldest son Christopher was wounded and later died in 1363. Young princess Margarethe was taken to Norway and in 1363 married to Håkon (1340 – 1380) who had become king of Norway in 1355. In 1370 she gave birth to her only son, Oluf.

Valdemar’s systematic taxation of the tradesmen from the Hanseatic league as well as his arrogance finally caused a declaration of war against Denmark in 1367. The Hanseatic League mobilized a large navy and attacked Copenhagen and other castles of Øresund. The enemy soldiers demolished the Copenhagen Castle. The League’s ally Count Claus of Holstein and some noblemen from Jutland moved an army into Jutland and captured several strongholds and the Count thereafter called himself Ruler of Jutland. Valdemar’s response to the attack was to flee the country in 1368 possibly to try to split the enemy alliance by diplomatic activities. He spent one year at the Imperial court in Germany while the royal council defended Denmark. Eventually the Danish Seneschal, Henning Podebusk, forged a peace treaty with Valdemar’s enemies. In 1370 Valdemar returned home but had to agree to a humiliating peace treaty with the Hanseatic cities, where he handed over several castles in Scania for a period of 15 years and the League received two thirds of the taxation from the lucrative herring market in Skanør.

After his return he proceeded to recapture Schleswig led by the childless Duke Heinrich. Valdemar took over several large estates such as the island of Als and the peninsula of Sundeved. The Holstein count was forced out of Jutland and his allied noblemen from Jutland