Eric III Lamb ( da, Erik III Lam, – 27 August 1146) was the

King of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional political system, institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous administrative division, autonomous territories of the Faroe ...

from 1137 until 1146. He was the grandson of

Eric I of Denmark Eric I ( – 10 July 1103), also known as Eric the Good ( da, Erik Ejegod), was King of Denmark following his brother Olaf I Hunger in 1095. He was a son of Sweyn II. His mother's identity is unknown. He married Boedil Thurgotsdatter. Biog ...

and the nephew of

Eric II of Denmark Eric II the Memorable ( da, Erik II Emune; – 18 September 1137) was king of Denmark between 1134 and 1137. Eric was an illegitimate son of Eric I of Denmark, who ruled Denmark from 1095 to 1103. Eric the Memorable rebelled against his uncle Niel ...

, whom he succeeded on the throne. He

abdicated Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...

in 1146, as the first and only Danish monarch to do so voluntarily. His succession led to a period of civil war between

Sweyn III Sweyn III GratheFor the significance of the epithet, see Tripartition ( da, Svend III Grathe) ( – 23 October 1157) was the King of Denmark between 1146 and 1157, in shifting alliances with Canute V and his own cousin Valdemar I. In 1157, ...

, Canute V, and Valdemar I.

Biography

Eric was born on

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 ...

. His mother was Ragnhild, the daughter of King Eric I, and his father the nobleman

Hakon Sunnivasson Hakon Sunnivasson ( da, Hakon Jyde, "from Jutland") () was a Danish nobleman and the father of King Eric III of Denmark. Biography Hakon was the son of a Danish nobleman. His mother, Sunniva, was the daughter of a daughter of Norwegian King Magn ...

, a great-grandson of King

Magnus the Good Magnus Olafsson (Old Norse: ''Magnús Óláfsson''; Norwegian and Danish: ''Magnus Olavsson''; – 25 October 1047), better known as Magnus the Good (Old Norse: ''Magnús góði'', Norwegian and Danish: ''Magnus den gode''), was King of Norwa ...

of Norway and Denmark. Eric was the nephew of

, fighting for him at the decisive

Battle of Fotevik Battle of Fotevik ( da, Slaget ved Fodevig) was fought between forces of King Niels of Denmark and his son Magnus Nilsson, against those of Erik Emune on 4 June 1134 at the bay of Fotevik in Skåne. At his death, King Eric I of Denmark h ...

in 1134,Stefan Pajung
Erik Lam ca. 1100-1147

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

, 20 January 2010, archived fro
the original
on 7 August 2011. and succeeded Eric II to the throne when he was murdered in 1137. Not much is known of Eric's kingship. Contemporary chroniclers highly disagree about the personality of this king, and he portrayed both as a passive and irresolute man, as well as an eager and brave fighter. Eric had to fight for his kingship against his cousin

Olaf Haraldsen Olaf Haraldsen (died ) was a Danish anti-king who ruled Scania for a few years from 1139. He never won control over the rest of Denmark, and he is not included in the list of Danish monarchs used by the Danish monarchy or ''Den Store Danske Encykl ...

, sometimes called ''Olaf II''. Olaf established a base of power in

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...

in 1139 and tried to conquer the throne from there, until Eric defeated and killed him in 1141 near

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

. During the civil wars, the

Wends Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various peopl ...

raided the Danish coasts and sounds without much Danish resistance. Eric supported

Magnus the Blind Magnus Sigurdsson (c. 1115 – 12 November 1139), also known as Magnus the Blind, was King of Norway (being Magnus IV) from 1130 to 1135 and again from 1137 to 1139. His period as king marked the beginning of the civil war era in Norway, which las ...

and

Sigurd Slembe Sigurd Magnusson Slembe (or Slembedjakn) (died 12 November 1139) was a Norwegian pretender to the throne. He was the subject of ''Sigurd Slembe'', the historical drama written by the Norwegian playwright Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson in 1862. Biograp ...

in the Norwegian civil war. He worked to aggrandize the church, especially St. Canute's Abbey in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

, and had a close relationship with bishop Eskil of Roskilde. In 1143, he married

Lutgard of Salzwedel Lutgard of Salzwedel or ''Liutgard/Luitgard of Stade'', (b. , murdered 1152) was Queen of Denmark as the wife of King Eric III. Life Lutgard was born to Richardis, Countess of Sponheim-Lavanttal, and Count Rudolf I of Stade and Ditmarsh (d. 112 ...

, daughter of

Rudolf I, Margrave of the Nordmark Rudolf I (died 7 December 1124), Margrave of the Nordmark and Count of Stade, son of Lothair Udo II, Margrave of the Nordmark, and Oda of Werl, daughter of Herman III, Count of Werl, and Richenza of Swabia. Rudolf was the brother of his predeces ...

. Eric and Lutgard were married by Rudolf's son Hartwig, then Provost of

Bremen Cathedral Bremen Cathedral (german: Bremer Dom or St. Petri Dom zu Bremen), dedicated to St. Peter, is a church situated in the market square in the center of Bremen. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the Protestant umbre ...

, in 1143 or 1144. In 1146, Eric abdicated, as the only Danish king in history, for unknown reasons. He entered St. Canute's Abbey, where he died on 27 August 1146 and was buried at the cloister. His abdication has been explained as being rooted either in his realization of his inability to govern, or an illness which ultimately killed him.

Legacy

His nickname "Lam" means "lamb". This is taken to either reference the

Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...

as he was seen as a pious man, as describing his mildhearted and generous nature, or indicating a weak and soft king.

Carl Frederik Bricka Carl Frederik Bricka (10 July 1845 – 23 August 1903) was a Denmark, Danish archivist, historian and biographer. Biography Carl Bricka was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His father, Frederik Vilhelm Theodor Bricka (1809-79), was a medical ...

, ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. IV lemens - Eynden 1890
pp.541-542
He married

in 1144, which indicated an increasing

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

influence on Denmark. He and Lutgard did not have any children, though Eric fathered a son,

Magnus Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

, out of wedlock. After Eric died, Lutgard married Herman II of Winzenburg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eric 02 Of Denmark House of Estridsen 1120s births 1146 deaths Year of birth uncertain Burials at St. Canute's Cathedral Monarchs who abdicated 12th-century kings of Denmark