[History] The Danish Reappear!

[Atterdag]

Author: Atterdag
Original Thread: The Danish Reappear!

The Danish Reappear!

Fear not oh faithful readers of the Gesta Danorum!
Here comes the sixth episode in this monumental tome over the deeds of the Danes.
We shall travel some 640 years back to a time where the Danish lands where in disarray and under the yoke of foreign rule and master ship.


In the year of 1332 the king of Denmark, Christoffer II, died. He had ruled a country that seemed beyond saving. His predecessor had ruined the country and driven the state into bankruptcy. The various parts of Denmark had been given to German pledgees in return for cold, hard cash.
Before Christoffer died the nobles of Jutland had rebelled against him and brought in Count Gert from northern Germany as their ruler. Denmark had then been nonexistent for some time. It was an Interregnum, the kingless time. The counts of Holstein occupied the country. Count Gert ruled Jutland and Funen and another count from Holstein, Johan, held Zealand and Skåne (Scania).



Denmark in the middle ages


Christoffer II had three sons Erik, Otto and Valdemar. Erik died before Christoffer and Otto tried to reconquer his father’s lost kingdom.
Otto assembled an army and campaigned up through Jutland. When he was halfway up the peninsula the Germans met him in open battle. Alas the battle went poorly for the Danes and Otto was taken prisoner.

Valdemar was the third and youngest of King’s sons and not much older than a boy, but it would be him who restored the country and defeated the Germans and won all of Denmark back.

In 1340 in the northern part of Jutland a revolt was forming. Count Gert prepared for a campaign and assembled an army.
However before he could crush the revolt, a young Danish squire named Niels Ebbesen assembled a band of some 40 men and rode into the, by Germans occupied, city of Randers. Here he and his men ambushed Gert and his German household on the first of April and killed him. The remaining German counts and pledgees responded in a curious fashion. The count’s sons halted the campaign and agreed to make Valdemar king of the rebellious northern Denmark. At that time he was almost twenty years old. At the same time as his coronation he was promised favourable terms for ransoming the remaining occupied parts of the country.

Niels Ebbesen has since the late medieval era been venerated as a national hero.
A poem from the 16th century celebrates his daring assassination of the German count.

Alle danske sjæle [danorum mentes] love den dag
Et tusind, tre hundrede og fyrretyve,
Da slangen segned for løvens slag,
Da Niels Ebbesen tog grev Gert af live.

All Danish souls [danorum mentes] praise the day
One thousand, three hundred and forty
When the snake yielded to the lion’s stroke
When Niels Ebbesen slew Gert

That said, Valdemar immediately rose what he could of funds from his new subjects and sailed with a small army to Zealand to capture the island as he had not enough money to buy it back.
Valdemar was perhaps the most skilled politician ever in Danish history. He was smart and fast, unbreakable and fought for the reconquest with a tempo so fierce that his allies and enemies were amazed time upon time.
He was hard, cold and fought by all means to the fullest extent. He played his enemies out against each other and broke hostile coalitions with absolutely no scruples.
While the reconquest was going on the King of Sweden, Magnus became nervous. At the death of Christoffer, the lands of Skåne had rebelled against the Germans and the Danes had butchered some 300 Germans in Lund and the occupation had ended. Now vulnerable to a furious German subjugation the Danish populace sought the Swedish king’s protection. So, Magnus became king of Skåne in 1332. Now 8 years later he was afraid of Valdemar. If Valdemar really was going to restore Denmark he could be certain that the young Danish king would attack him in an effort to recapture Skåne. Scared of this, Magnus began to support the Germans.
Valdemar now saw the folly in fighting two large enemies. He made separate peace with Magnus and piece for piece he drove the German occupiers out of Zealand.
In far away Estonia that had been Danish since 1219 AD the peasants had reduced the power of the local nobles. Though the locals were remarkable pro Danish, Valdemar was in a dangerous position of losing Estonia. He had no option to wage war so far away, during a time where his forces were needed home against the Germans. So in 1346 he sold Estonia to the German crusaders for 10.000 Mark (currency of the time) silver. The money was needed dearly and helped Valdemar to completely drive the Germans out of Denmark – all that remained was Skåne.

With most Denmark home, Valdemar now turned his attention towards the Scandinavian politics.
Norway and Sweden was in a personal union, with Magnus the king of Sweden as king.
The Norwegians then elected Magnus’ son as king in their country, but the union persisted.
Valdemar saw that the moment had arrived. He married his youngest daughter Margrethe (later leader and founder of the Kalmar Union) to the Norwegian king, Håkon, thus somewhat weakening the union.
In 1360 he quickly stroke at the Swedish occupying Skåne. Through battle and diplomacy (at a level so high that Magnus of Sweden had a hard time understanding what actually was going on) he restored the eastern provinces to the kingdom. Denmark had been born again and the Danish had reappeared.

Valdemar had put enormous personal wealth into the restoring of the kingdom and sold a Danish colony to a foreign power. The loss of Estonia had cost Denmark its part of the trade with the east. Therefore Valdemar and the Danish army attacked the island of Gotland east of Sweden in the Baltic. Gotland had one important city, Visby. The city was fortified with a strong ring wall and (perhaps an even better defence) also a member of the powerful Hanseatic League.
The Hanseatic League was a trading league that strode to control the trade and politics of the Baltic and northern Europe and as such one of the most powerful authorities at the time.
The Danish army made landfall and defeated the local forces in several skirmishes before routing and slaughtering the defenders just outside the gates of Visby the 27th of July.
Valdemar entered the city and taxed it heavily, but left it untouched.
When he returned home to Denmark he found 77 declarations of war waiting for him.
The Hanseatic League had decided to crush the restored kingdom. He mockingly replied- 77 geese and chickens mean nothing.
The German city of Lübeck sent a huge fleet to subjugate Valdemar, but the Danish king routed the Germans decisively in the waters next to Zealand.
The war went on rather dull until 1363. The Hanseatic League was forced to pay 202.000 mark silver for prisoners captured by the Danes.

At the same time the union between Norway and Sweden had been dissolved. The Swedes were tired of their king Magnus and brought in a German to rule them. Magnus’ son Håkon still ruled Norway and he was engaged with Danish princess Margrethe.
Denmark was strong and its policy so dangerous for its neighbours that the Hanseatic League again decided to attack. The coalition was not easily created though. The German states still felt the sting of defeat Valdemar had brought them, and many feared the results of a second war.
It was here, Valdemar made the mistake of his life. He didn’t understand the danger of fighting a committed Hanseatic League and its allies. The attack came in 1367 – from all fronts the enemies swarmed over the Danish borders, seeking battle. Valdemar now saw the peril his country was in. He left the military command to his personal friend and comrade in arms Henrik Podebusk and travelled away. He knew that the coalition was against him personally and with the Danish king away the coalition became surprisingly weakened. Valdemar travelled to every single hostile nation and negotiated. Slowly the coalition cracked and at last broke apart. Peace was made in 1367 in Stralsund on Rügen.
Denmark had to give in on certain important demands, but all in all the Status Quo was maintained. Most importantly, Denmark had survived.


A chalk painting showing Valdemar Atterdag

After this war, Valdemar concentrated on rebuilding his country and waged a short war against the Holstein counts. After his death his daughter, Margrethe took power as Queen Margrethe I. She would later continue her father’s policy and in time make Denmark the most powerful country in Scandinavia.

It is incredible how a nation can be saved from the brink of destruction by one man’s strong will and constitution. Valdemar brought light to a country in its darkest hour and raised it to the light of glory. Henceforth he has been known through the ages as Valdemar Atterdag. Atterdag meaning ‘day once more’.





Scources:

Palle Lauring: Danmarkshistoren
wikipedia


Rest of the Gesta Danorum:
_________________________

Holy war in the Baltic an article on crusades and warfare in medieval Northern Europe

The Stockholm Bloodbath Might be the event that founded Danish/Swedish rivalry

The siege of Copenhagen Possible the most important battle in the history of Scandinavia

The Great Northern War The last great war between the old foes.

The German occupation of Denmark And what it lead to.