Eric VI of Denmark
Encyclopedia
Eric VI Menved (1274 – 13 November 1319) was King of Denmark
(1286–1319) and a son of Eric V
and Agnes of Brandenburg
.
He became king in 1286 at age 12, when his father was murdered 20 November by unknown assailants. Since Eric VI was only 12 years old, his mother ruled for him until 1294.
Eric Menved’s rule was a central period during the “Age of Decay" in Denmark 1241–1340. His early reign – during which he was led by his mother and her German relatives – was affected by the unrest and wars that followed the murder of his father.
The first act of the new government was to settle the case of the former king’s murder at a court convened at Nyborg
at Whitsun
1287. 27 honorable men were appointed to decide the case. Chief among the accused were Marshal Stig Andersen Hvide
and Jacob Nielsen, Count of Halland and seven others were accused. After a one day trial, the jury found all the accused guilty. The properties and incomes of the condemned were declared forfeit and they were exiled from Denmark on pain of death. Even the pope became involved when he excommunicated those who had been judged guilty.
The verdict was questionable on several counts. None of the accused could be proven to be in the immediate vicinity when the king was stabbed to death. The accused were not allowed to swear
their innocence before the court or have other honorable men swear as to their innocence, a right granted to them by law. Despite the unclear circumstances surrounding Eric V’s death, the jury only took one day to arrive at a guilty verdict. The accused had all belonged to Erik V's inner circle; it is uncertain what they were supposed to gain by the king’s death. For these reasons historians Erik Arup and Hugo Yrwing have labelled the verdict as a miscarriage of justice
. They consider the murder a result of a power struggle between two noble factions, one led by Marsk Stig and one led by Valdemar, Duke of South Jutland. Duke Valdemar had fallen from grace in 1283, but quickly rose in influence after 1288. They suggest that Valdemar and his allies conspired to kill the king and then to successfully cast suspicion on their rivals at court. Another historian, Kai Hørby, has pointed out that the murder might well have its origin in the dynastic struggle for the throne of Denmark. There were others who thought they had equal or better claim to the throne than Eric V, such as the Norway
's king, Eirik Magnusson
and his brother and successor Haakon V
who were grandsons of Eric IV of Denmark
.
Andersen and the others fled to Norway where they were welcomed by King Eirik who gladly supported enemies of the Danish king. He gave Andersen the fortress of Kongshelle near the border with Denmark. Andersen became a pirate who harried the coast of Denmark for years. The exiles managed to build forts on Samsø, Hjelm, Sprogø, and Helgenæs. No ship was safe and no coastal town immune from Stig Andersen Hvide. The high point of his depredations occurred in 1289 when he landed with a small Norwegian army at Stubbekøbing on Falster
. Wizlau II of Rűgen, Denmark's regent, used his Wendish fleet to drive Andersen back to Norway. Andersen's activities sparked four decades of conflict and warfare between the Nordic kingdoms.
who supported the outlaws, his kinsmen, despite his oath to support the king. Once his selection was confirmed by the pope, Bishop Jens reneged on his oath of allegiance. "It doesn't matter to me whether Duke Valdemar, a Jew, a Turk, a pagan, or the devil himself is King of Denmark so long as it is neither Erik nor his brother Christopher," he said. " Bishop Jens went further, he gave a piece of church land at Hundehals to the exiles to build a fortress and entertained them at his table in public. The king could not tolerate this and ordered Bishop Jens' arrest in 1294. The archbishop was sent to Duke Christopher in chains to be close confined in Søborg's "dark tower". After some months in terrible conditions, the king sent a messenger to Bishop Jens to see if he would swear allegiance again and promise to seek no revenge for his captivity. "Rather than bend to his will, I would rather that the king sliced me apart joint by joint than submit to his commands," the bishop replied. After two years in awful conditions, Bishop Jens managed to escape with the help of a kitchen servant. Bishop Jens fled directly to Rome to lay his case before the Holy See. The pope immediately excommunicated the king and put all of Denmark under interdict until the kingdom paid Archbishop Jens Grand 49,000 silver marks. Denmark could not or would not raise such a sum and languished under interdict for four years. In 1302 King Erik wrote to the pope asking for mercy for himself and the kingdom which had been without any of the sacraments for years. Promising to do whatever the pope said, King Erik humbled himself in public. Pope Boniface VIII – negotiated by Martin (Morten Mogensen) of Dacia
– agreed to reduce the fine by 80%, interdict and excommunication were lifted and Archbishop Jens accepted another papal assignment which kept him out of King Erik's hair.
Erik had a great love of tournaments, and money poured out of the treasury for his entertainments. At one knightly tournament at Rostock
, wine, mead, and beer "flowed" for an entire month for any who wished to drink. The king paid for the upkeep of all the horses and livestock at the tournament including a mountain of oats for any and all. He crafted new and unusual taxes to squeeze peasants and nobles alike. When the tax money didn't cover his expenses, the king borrowed money heavily from various German nobles, going so far as to mortgage pieces of Denmark to them. Erik sent several expeditions to Germany to win new territories in an attempt to recover Denmark's position as a Scandinavian great power. Through alliances with German princes, among them the Duke of Mecklenburg
he managed to become the formal lord of several Hanseatic
cities which meant fighting Brandenburg
and some other minor states. He also intervened in Sweden
in order to support his brother-in-law against the opposition in 1305 and again in 1307–1309 while fighting in Germany at the same time, hiring German troops to turn the tide in his favor.
In 1312 famine struck Denmark and when the king demanded the same taxes as before, the peasants on Zealand rebelled. Erik put down the rebellion fiercely, hanging hundreds of peasants outside Copenhagen. The very next year at the Viborg
Assembly (Danish:landsting) the peasant and nobles declared open rebellion against the king. Those who refused to aid the rebels were hanged from their own house beams. Erik put down the rebellion with mercenary troops from Germany ravaging as far north as Randers
. The king began a round of fortress building with peasant labor, one of the penalties imposed for rebellion. The nobles involved were exiled or executed and their property taken by the crown. Niels Brok was executed for hiding Rane Jonsen who had aided those who murdered Erik's father at Finderup.
In 1313 King Erik surrendered all crown property in southern Jutland to the Duke for cash. From 1315 to 1317 the crops failed yet again. There was nothing left to tax. The treasury was empty. In 1317 Erik mortgaged all of Funen Island to count Gert of Rendsburg and Count Johan of Kiel for 200 mounted knights. Before he died, Erik also mortgaged Skåne to German nobles for money to continue his extravagances. As a last blow to Danish pride, Duke Henry of Mecklenburg captured the Danish fortress at Rostock. When Erik died in 1319, having survived all his 14 children, Denmark was bankrupt.
romantic
literature
. Viewed today, however, his policies began the dissolution of the Danish empire in the Baltic and northern Europe that followed during the next generation.
The nickname of King Eric has been much discussed. A popular explanation is that it is an abbreviation of his alleged favourite oath (“ved alle hellige mænd” – Eng.: by all holy men). Another explanation is that it derives from the elder Danish “menvett” (Eng.: bird of ill omen).
. The couple had eight sons who died as children, as well as six miscarriages, although the sources differ between eight and fourteen children: whatever the case, her many pregnancies led to miscarriages, or the birth of children who died soon after
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
(1286–1319) and a son of Eric V
Eric V of Denmark
Eric V "Klipping" was King of Denmark and son of Christopher I. Until 1264 he ruled under the auspices of his mother, the competent Queen Dowager Margaret Sambiria. Between 1261 and 1262, Eric was a prisoner in Holstein following a military defeat...
and Agnes of Brandenburg
Agnes of Brandenburg
Agnes of Brandenburg was a Danish Queen consort, spouse of King Eric V of Denmark. As a widow, she served as the regent of Denmark for her son Eric during his minority from 1286 until 1293.- Biography :...
.
He became king in 1286 at age 12, when his father was murdered 20 November by unknown assailants. Since Eric VI was only 12 years old, his mother ruled for him until 1294.
Regency
The first act of the new government was to settle the case of the former king’s murder at a court convened at Nyborg
Nyborg
Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 16,492 . Nyborg is one of the 14 large municipalities created on 1 January 2007...
at Whitsun
Whitsun
Whitsun is the name used in the UK for the Christian festival of Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ's disciples...
1287. 27 honorable men were appointed to decide the case. Chief among the accused were Marshal Stig Andersen Hvide
Stig Andersen Hvide
Stig Andersen Hvide was a Danish nobleman and magnate, known as the leading man among the outlaws after the murder of King Eric V of Denmark. In Danish tradition, he is known as Marsk Stig.-Biography:...
and Jacob Nielsen, Count of Halland and seven others were accused. After a one day trial, the jury found all the accused guilty. The properties and incomes of the condemned were declared forfeit and they were exiled from Denmark on pain of death. Even the pope became involved when he excommunicated those who had been judged guilty.
The verdict was questionable on several counts. None of the accused could be proven to be in the immediate vicinity when the king was stabbed to death. The accused were not allowed to swear
Oath
An oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow...
their innocence before the court or have other honorable men swear as to their innocence, a right granted to them by law. Despite the unclear circumstances surrounding Eric V’s death, the jury only took one day to arrive at a guilty verdict. The accused had all belonged to Erik V's inner circle; it is uncertain what they were supposed to gain by the king’s death. For these reasons historians Erik Arup and Hugo Yrwing have labelled the verdict as a miscarriage of justice
Miscarriage of justice
A miscarriage of justice primarily is the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. The term can also apply to errors in the other direction—"errors of impunity", and to civil cases. Most criminal justice systems have some means to overturn, or "quash", a wrongful...
. They consider the murder a result of a power struggle between two noble factions, one led by Marsk Stig and one led by Valdemar, Duke of South Jutland. Duke Valdemar had fallen from grace in 1283, but quickly rose in influence after 1288. They suggest that Valdemar and his allies conspired to kill the king and then to successfully cast suspicion on their rivals at court. Another historian, Kai Hørby, has pointed out that the murder might well have its origin in the dynastic struggle for the throne of Denmark. There were others who thought they had equal or better claim to the throne than Eric V, such as the Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
's king, Eirik Magnusson
Eirik II of Norway
Eirik Magnusson was the King of Norway from 1273/80 until 1299.-Background:He was the eldest surviving son of King Magnus the Lawmender of Norway, and his wife Ingeborg Eriksdatter, daughter of King Eric IV of Denmark. Eric descended from St...
and his brother and successor Haakon V
Haakon V of Norway
Haakon V Magnusson was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319.-Biography:Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, King of Norway, and his wife Ingeborg of Denmark. Haakon was descended from king Saint Olav and is considered to have been the last Norwegian king in the Fairhair...
who were grandsons of Eric IV of Denmark
Eric IV of Denmark
Eric IV, also known as Eric Ploughpenny , was king of Denmark from 1241 until his death in 1250. He was the son of King Valdemar II of Denmark by his wife, Infanta Berengária of Portugal, and brother to King Abel and King Christopher I.-Early life:...
.
Andersen and the others fled to Norway where they were welcomed by King Eirik who gladly supported enemies of the Danish king. He gave Andersen the fortress of Kongshelle near the border with Denmark. Andersen became a pirate who harried the coast of Denmark for years. The exiles managed to build forts on Samsø, Hjelm, Sprogø, and Helgenæs. No ship was safe and no coastal town immune from Stig Andersen Hvide. The high point of his depredations occurred in 1289 when he landed with a small Norwegian army at Stubbekøbing on Falster
Falster
Falster is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of 514 km² and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010. Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Sjælland and is administered by Guldborgsund Municipality...
. Wizlau II of Rűgen, Denmark's regent, used his Wendish fleet to drive Andersen back to Norway. Andersen's activities sparked four decades of conflict and warfare between the Nordic kingdoms.
Adulthood
At the same time an ecclesiastical conflict appeared because of the ambitious new Archbishop of Lund Jens GrandJens Grand
Dr. Jens Grand, the Firebug was a Danish archbishop of Lund , titular Archbishop of Riga and Terra Mariana , and Prince-Archbishop of Bremen , known as the central figure of the second ecclesiastical struggle in Denmark in the late 13th century...
who supported the outlaws, his kinsmen, despite his oath to support the king. Once his selection was confirmed by the pope, Bishop Jens reneged on his oath of allegiance. "It doesn't matter to me whether Duke Valdemar, a Jew, a Turk, a pagan, or the devil himself is King of Denmark so long as it is neither Erik nor his brother Christopher," he said. " Bishop Jens went further, he gave a piece of church land at Hundehals to the exiles to build a fortress and entertained them at his table in public. The king could not tolerate this and ordered Bishop Jens' arrest in 1294. The archbishop was sent to Duke Christopher in chains to be close confined in Søborg's "dark tower". After some months in terrible conditions, the king sent a messenger to Bishop Jens to see if he would swear allegiance again and promise to seek no revenge for his captivity. "Rather than bend to his will, I would rather that the king sliced me apart joint by joint than submit to his commands," the bishop replied. After two years in awful conditions, Bishop Jens managed to escape with the help of a kitchen servant. Bishop Jens fled directly to Rome to lay his case before the Holy See. The pope immediately excommunicated the king and put all of Denmark under interdict until the kingdom paid Archbishop Jens Grand 49,000 silver marks. Denmark could not or would not raise such a sum and languished under interdict for four years. In 1302 King Erik wrote to the pope asking for mercy for himself and the kingdom which had been without any of the sacraments for years. Promising to do whatever the pope said, King Erik humbled himself in public. Pope Boniface VIII – negotiated by Martin (Morten Mogensen) of Dacia
Martin of Dacia
Martin of Dacia was a Danish scholar, master of arts and theology at the University of Paris around 1250–88, and the author of Modi significandi, an influential treatise on grammar. He held a prebendary as canon of the Ribe Cathedral in the Ribe diocese...
– agreed to reduce the fine by 80%, interdict and excommunication were lifted and Archbishop Jens accepted another papal assignment which kept him out of King Erik's hair.
Erik had a great love of tournaments, and money poured out of the treasury for his entertainments. At one knightly tournament at Rostock
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
, wine, mead, and beer "flowed" for an entire month for any who wished to drink. The king paid for the upkeep of all the horses and livestock at the tournament including a mountain of oats for any and all. He crafted new and unusual taxes to squeeze peasants and nobles alike. When the tax money didn't cover his expenses, the king borrowed money heavily from various German nobles, going so far as to mortgage pieces of Denmark to them. Erik sent several expeditions to Germany to win new territories in an attempt to recover Denmark's position as a Scandinavian great power. Through alliances with German princes, among them the Duke of Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
he managed to become the formal lord of several Hanseatic
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
cities which meant fighting Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
and some other minor states. He also intervened in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in order to support his brother-in-law against the opposition in 1305 and again in 1307–1309 while fighting in Germany at the same time, hiring German troops to turn the tide in his favor.
In 1312 famine struck Denmark and when the king demanded the same taxes as before, the peasants on Zealand rebelled. Erik put down the rebellion fiercely, hanging hundreds of peasants outside Copenhagen. The very next year at the Viborg
Viborg, Denmark
Viborg , a town in central Jutland, Denmark, is the seat of both Viborg municipality and Region Midtjylland. Viborg is also the seat of the Western High Court, the High Court for the Jutland peninsula...
Assembly (Danish:landsting) the peasant and nobles declared open rebellion against the king. Those who refused to aid the rebels were hanged from their own house beams. Erik put down the rebellion with mercenary troops from Germany ravaging as far north as Randers
Randers
Randers is a city in Randers municipality on the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 60,656 . Randers city is the main town of the municipality and the site of its municipal council.-Overview:Randers municipality has 94,750 inhabitants...
. The king began a round of fortress building with peasant labor, one of the penalties imposed for rebellion. The nobles involved were exiled or executed and their property taken by the crown. Niels Brok was executed for hiding Rane Jonsen who had aided those who murdered Erik's father at Finderup.
In 1313 King Erik surrendered all crown property in southern Jutland to the Duke for cash. From 1315 to 1317 the crops failed yet again. There was nothing left to tax. The treasury was empty. In 1317 Erik mortgaged all of Funen Island to count Gert of Rendsburg and Count Johan of Kiel for 200 mounted knights. Before he died, Erik also mortgaged Skåne to German nobles for money to continue his extravagances. As a last blow to Danish pride, Duke Henry of Mecklenburg captured the Danish fortress at Rostock. When Erik died in 1319, having survived all his 14 children, Denmark was bankrupt.
Judgements
Traditionally the rule of Eric VI has been regarded one of the few bright spots of the period because of his attempt to recover Denmark's far-flung empire. He has been hailed in DanishDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
. Viewed today, however, his policies began the dissolution of the Danish empire in the Baltic and northern Europe that followed during the next generation.
The nickname of King Eric has been much discussed. A popular explanation is that it is an abbreviation of his alleged favourite oath (“ved alle hellige mænd” – Eng.: by all holy men). Another explanation is that it derives from the elder Danish “menvett” (Eng.: bird of ill omen).
Children and family
Married in June 1296 to Ingeborg Magnusdotter of SwedenIngeborg Magnusdotter of Sweden
Princess Ingeborg Magnusdotter of Sweden, , was a Danish queen consort, daughter of king Magnus III of Sweden and wife of king Eric VI of Denmark.-Biography:...
. The couple had eight sons who died as children, as well as six miscarriages, although the sources differ between eight and fourteen children: whatever the case, her many pregnancies led to miscarriages, or the birth of children who died soon after
- Valdemar (d. 1302)
- Eric
- Magnus
- son (b. & d. 1318); Tradition states that he was born living, and Queen Isabella showed him off to the public by holding him outside her carriage, thus losing her grip on him, and he fell and broke his neck.