Abel Abelsøn (1252 – 2 April 1279), Lord of

Langeland Langeland (, ) is a Danish island located between the Great Belt and Bay of Kiel. The island measures 285 km2 (c. 110 square miles) and, as of 1 January 2018, has a population of 12,446.

, was the third son of King Abel of Denmark,

Duke of Schleswig The following is a list of jarls and dukes, who ruled over Schleswig respectively Southern Jutland (Sønderjylland). First jarls/dukes Houses of Estridsen and Schauenburg (1080–1460) House of Oldenburg In 1864, following the Second Sch ...

, and younger brother of

Valdemar III, Duke of Schleswig Valdemar III Abelsøn (died 1257) was Duke of Schleswig from 1253 until his death in 1257. He was the eldest son of King Abel of Denmark, Duke of Schleswig and Matilda of Holstein. Life At the time of his father's death in 1252, Valdemar was being ...

and

Eric I, Duke of Schleswig Eric I Abelsøn ( da, Erik 1. Abelsøn af Danmark) (died 27 May 1272) was a Danish nobleman. He was the ruling Duke of Schleswig from 1260 until his death in 1272. He was the second son of King Abel of Denmark, Duke of Schleswig and Mechtild of ...

. As a member of the ducal family, he held several fiefs in Southern Denmark.

Life

Abel was born in 1252 as the third and posthumous son of King Abel of Denmark, Duke of Schleswig, by his wife,

Mechtild of Holstein Matilda of Holstein or Mechthild (1220 or 1225 – 1288 in Kiel) was a Danish queen consort, married to King Abel of Denmark and later to Birger Jarl, Regent of Sweden. Life Matilda was the daughter of Adolf IV, Count of Holstein, and Hei ...

. In the settlement with his brother

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

after the death of their elder brother Duke Valdemar III, Abel received the cities of

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,300 (1 January 2022), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city.Rudkøbing Rudkøbing is a town in Denmark, on the western coast of the island of Langeland. It is the seat of Langeland Municipality, in the Southern Denmark Region. The town is located southeast of Svendborg and is connected to Siø through the Siø ...

, and possibly also

Faaborg Faaborg or Fåborg () is an old port town located on Faaborg Fjord in Faaborg-Midtfyn municipality on the island of Funen in Denmark. By road, Faaborg is located southwest of Odense, west-northwest of Svendborg, and roughly southeast of Midd ...

on the island of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

, and as a fief the island of

Langeland Langeland (, ) is a Danish island located between the Great Belt and Bay of Kiel. The island measures 285 km2 (c. 110 square miles) and, as of 1 January 2018, has a population of 12,446.

. Abel died on Easter Day 1279 in Svendborg and was buried in Greyfriars’ Abbey. At his death, he left only a daughter Margaret, who entered the convent of

Zarrentin Zarrentin am Schaalsee, until 2004 simply Zarrentin, is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the Schaalsee lake, 19 km southeast of Ratzeburg, and 34 km west of Sc ...

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

and donated her father's properties to her relatives, the counts of

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

. They later sold it to King Eric VI of Denmark.

Marriage and issue

Abel appears to have married a daughter of

Gunzelin III, Count of Schwerin Gunzelin III, Count of Schwerin, also known as ''Günzel III of Schwerin'', (d. after 23 October 1274) was Count of Schwerin from 1228 until his death. Life Gunzelin III was the son of Count Henry I and his wife, Audacia. He inherited the Count ...

: * Margaret, abbess of Zarrentin. As abbess, she instituted a requiem mass for her father in 1317.

Ancestry

References

Biography
in '' Dansk Biografisk Leksikon 1. ed. House of Estridsen 1279 deaths 1252 births 13th-century Danish people Sons of kings {{Denmark-bio-stub