The Children of Sweyn, Part 1

King Sweyn II of Denmark (c.1019 - 1076) had two wives and numerous mistresses, resulting in about 20 children. His first wife was Gyda of Sweden, who we are told by later chronicles was the daughter of King of Sweden Anund Jacob and Queen Gunnhildr Sveinsdóttir. The marriage was short-lived, and Adam of Bremen suspects she was poisoned by Thora, a concubine of Sweyn. His second marriage was to Gyda's mother, Gunnhildr, after Anund Jacob died (c.1050). Although they had a son (Sweyn), Bishop Adalbert of Hamburg ended the marriage by threatening excommunication because the husband was too closely related to his wife/mother-in-law. Gunnhildr returned to Sweden.

Sweyn never re-married that we know of, but that did not stop him from fathering children. His legitimate child by Gunnhildr died young. Of his known children, many survived and become known to history.

Harald Hen, born c.1050, became King Harald III after his father, reigning from 1076 to 1080. The election to succeed Sweyn was between Harald and his brother (who also became king) Canute IV of Denmark (later Canute the Saint). Harald's reign was challenged by his brothers, who were supported by Olaf III of Norway, who might have wanted to carry on the legacy of his father, Harald Hardrada, who hassled Sweyn for much of his reign.

Although Saxo Grammaticus, in his Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danish People"), calls Harald III weak and ineffective, another chronicler says he was beloved by the people. He started no new wars, he standardized Danish coinage, allowed public use of royal forests, and eliminated trial by combat and trial by ordeal, replacing them with the English system of calling other men to swear to your bona fides.

Upon his death, he was succeeded by his brother Canute the Saint (born c.1042; reigned 1080 - 1086). Canute was more ambitious than his brother, and led yet another Danish raid on England. Since his great-uncle Cnut was once king of England, Canute IV considered himself the rightful heir to that crown and considered William I "the Conqueror" a usurper.

Canute IV married Adela, daughter of Robert I of Flanders (an ally of Denmark). With the help of his father-in-law and Olaf III of Norway, he planned an assault on England and assembled a fleet of ships. At the same time, however, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV was being seen as a growing threat to Denmark and Flanders. The fleet never sailed, because Canute and Robert were afraid to leave Denmark and Flanders undefended against Henry's thoughts of expansion.

Canute was killed in 1086 by a lance thrust in his side during a peasant revolt. Canute had also been a devout advocate for the Church. A famine that followed his death was attributed to the unjust killing of a saintly man.  Miracles were attributed to him not long after. Pope Paschal II confirmed the "cult of Canute," and he became the first Dane to be canonized. (The illustration is of his statue in St. Peter's Church in Odense, Denmark.)

His successor was another illegitimate child of Sweyn's, Olaf Hunger, and his nickname was not in any way flattering. I'll explain tomorrow.

Medieval Forgeries, Part 3

In Parts One and Two we get the feeling that forgeries were quite common, and used to "alter history" to the benefit of an institution. One of the most famous was the Donation of Constantine, first mentioned here. It was a document from the Emperor Constantine giving the popes authority over the Western Roman Empire, until a scholar named Lorenzo Valla looked more closely and realized it was written not in 4th-century Latin but in 8th-century informal Latin. The Donation of Constantine did not work to give the popes more power.

A supposed forgery that did have a strong impact was The Ordinance of Normandy. After the Battle of Caen in 1346 (part of the Hundred Years War), the victorious English supposedly found a document that was supposedly written by Philip VI in 1338 (the year the Hundred Years War is considered to have begun).

In it, the plan for Philip and his son (later King John II) to conquer England and destroy it completely is explained. They would give all its land to French lords. This was read out in public at St. Paul's Cathedral for maximum effect and then taken to Parliament. The outrage it created among the English population helped fuel support for Edward's military plans. In our modern times, calls would be made to French officials to deny or repudiate the contents of such a document, but in 1346, it was taken at its word.

There is no evidence that this was an official French policy or plan. No originals exist in French royal records. It was a useful tool of propaganda for the English, uniting the country against its enemy across the Channel.

There was a similar document connected to the crusades. Many copies exist of a popular letter written supposedly by Emperor Alexios I Comnenos to Count Robert I of Flanders, asking for help from Western Europe against the Turks. It describes all manner of horrible acts by the Turks. There is no indication that those acts took place, or that it was composed and sent prior to Urban's calling of the First Crusade, and is most likely to have been written afterward to help keep "Crusade Fever" going.

There will be a few more examples of medieval forgeries tomorrow, then we'll move on to a related topic.