Sweyn's Reign, and Religion

The conflict between Sweyn II of Denmark and Harald Hardrada was called off in 1064, with Sweyn agreeing to recognize Harald as King of Norway. With no more conflict against Denmark, Harald sailed to England to conquer that land, where he died in 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

The war with Norway had been devastating economically for Denmark, and recovery was slow. Sweyn's reputation for kindness and generosity went a long way toward keeping the loyalty of his people. He also created close ties to the Church, reaching out to popes for support and friendship. He tried to get his great-grandfather, the first Christian King of Denmark Harold Bluetooth, canonized as a saint.

He divided Denmark into either dioceses, and brought Anglo-Dane clerics from England to prevent the expansion of German influence on Danish churches. Bishop Adalbert of Hamburg was trying to extend the influence of the German-based Holy Roman Empire to the Scandinavian countries. Sweyn requested of Pope Leo IX to have an archbishop for Denmark to stave off the German influence. The request was not fulfilled before Leo died in 1054.

Churches were built throughout Denmark with the king's support. The German chronicler Adam of Bremen visited Denmark and wrote about how impressed he was with Sweyn's wisdom and how astounded he was at the hundreds of churches he saw. Originally wooden, hundreds of couches were re=built with stone in the 12th century.

Adam of Bremen interviewed Sweyn, who told him much about his family and life. Much of what we know about Denmark in the 9th and 10th centuries comes from Adam's work, Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum ("Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church").

Sweyn tried his own hand at taking over England, the land of his birth, after William of Normandy had conquered it. He allied with Edgar Ætheling to challenge William, but after managing only to conquer York, William bribed him to desert Edgar.

Sweyn had two wives, and numerous mistresses. He fathered at least 20 children, many of whom went on to make names for themselves. Perhaps tomorrow we'll visit a selection of his children and their accomplishments.

Sweyn's Close Call

Sweyn's care for his people allowed Harald Hardrada to escape during their sea skirmish, but Sweyn himself had a similar close call. In 1062, at the Battle of Niså off the coast of Halland (a Swedish province), Sweyn was captured and survived due to the sympathy of his captor.

The tale is told by Snorri Sturluson: Harald and Sweyn agreed to meet in a decisive battle. If Sweyn won, Harald would stop trying to invade and conquer Denmark (he had been calling himself king of Denmark for years). The two navies would meet on 9 August. Harald was there, but Sweyn did not show up. Harald kept his formal navy but allowed his non-soldiers—the villagers who were conscripted for the fight—to go home.

That's when Sweyn appeared, seizing what he saw as an advantage. Harald linked all his ships with rope so that Sweyn's ships could not separate them. Sweyn did the same, and the battle lasted into the night. Then Harald's earl, Haakon Ivarsson, detached his ships and started attacking the weakened and tired Danish ships from a new angle.

Sweyn didn't have a way to do the same, and by dawn 70 of his ships were empty and the rest went into retreat. Sweyn leapt into the water to escape being attacked in his recognizable boat. He was actually rescued by Haakon, who did not turn him over to Harald. Haakon had been an ally of Sweyn's in the past, and saved his life.

Sweyn would have been killed or turned over to Harald by anyone else, but Haakon got him to safety. Later, Haakon claimed that Sweyn was in disguise and unrecognizable, but that is unlikely since they knew each other personally. Haakon's actions caused the Norwegians to condemn him. He later became the earl of Halland under Sweyn.

Harald's forces won, but the damage was so great on his side as well that Norway was suffering. The saga would not be concluded for another couple years. We'll wrap this up tomorrow.