Eric IV, also known as Eric Ploughpenny or Eric Plowpenny ( da, Erik Plovpenning), ( – 10 August 1250) was king of Denmark from 1241 until his death in 1250. His reign was marked by conflict and civil wars against his brothers.

Early life

Eric was the son of Valdemar II of Denmark and brother of King Abel of Denmark and King

Christopher I of Denmark Christopher I ( da, Christoffer I) (1219 – 29 May 1259) was King of Denmark between 1252 and 1259. He was the son of Valdemar II of Denmark by his second wife, Berengaria of Portugal. He succeeded his brothers Eric IV Plovpenning and Abel of D ...

. He was born ca. 1216 as the second legitimate son of King Valdemar II by his second wife

Berengária of Portugal Berengaria of Portugal (, ; c. 1198 – 27 March 1221) was a Portuguese ''infanta'' (princess) and Queen of Denmark, by marriage to King Valdemar II. She was the fifth daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal and Dulce of Aragon. She was the mothe ...

. In 1218, when his older half-brother Valdemar the Young was crowned king as their father's co-ruler and designated heir, he was created Duke of Schleswig. After the premature death of Valdemar in 1231, Eric was crowned king at

Lund Cathedral Lund Cathedral ( sv, Lunds domkyrka) is a cathedral of the Lutheran Church of Sweden in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the Bishop of Lund and the main church of the Diocese of Lund. It was built as the Catholic cathedral of the archiepi ...

30 May 1232 as his father's co-ruler and heir. Subsequently, he ceded the Duchy of Schleswig to his younger brother Abel. When his father died in 1241, he ascended to the throne.

Rule

His rule was marked by bitter conflicts, especially against his brother, Duke Abel of Schleswig who seems to have wanted an independent position and who was supported by the counts of Holstein. Eric also fought the

Scanian The term Scanian (, or ) can refer to: * A person born or living in the province of Scania proper (Skåne) * The people and language of the historical provinces of Scania (Terrae Scaniae, Skånelandene (Danish), Skåneland (Swedish) * Scanian dia ...

peasants, who rebelled because of his hard taxes, among other things, on ploughs. The number of ploughs a man owned was used as a measure of his wealth. This gave the king the epithet "plough-penny" (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

: ''Plovpenning''). Eric had only been king for about a year when he first came into conflict with his brother, Duke Abel of Schleswig, in 1242. The conflict lasted for two years before the brothers agreed on a truce in 1244 and made plans for a joint

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

to Estonia. At the same time Eric faced trouble from the religious orders who insisted that they were immune from taxes that Eric might assess. Eric wanted the church lands taxed as any other land holder would be. The Pope sent a

nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international or ...

to negotiate between the king and the

bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

at Odense in 1245. Excommunication was threatened for anyone, great or small who trespassed upon the ancient rights and privileges of the church. It was a clear warning to Eric that the church would not tolerate his continued insistence at assessing church property for tax purposes. Infuriated, in 1249 King Eric directed his rage at Niels Stigsen, Bishop of the

Diocese of Roskilde The Diocese of Roskilde ( da, Roskildes Stift) is a diocese within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. The seat of the Bishop is Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde. History The Diocese of Roskilde was formed in 1922 when the Diocese of Zealan ...

who fled Denmark the same year. Eric confiscated the bishopric's properties in Zealand, including the emerging city of Copenhagen. In spite of intervention from Pope Innocent IV who advocated the reinstatement of the bishop and the return of the properties to the diocese, the dispute could not be resolved. Niels Stigsen died in 1249 at Clairvaux Abbey. The properties were not restored to the diocese until after the death of King Eric in 1250. The conflict between King Eric and his brothers had broken out again in 1246. The conflict started when Eric invaded Holstein in an attempt to restore his father's control of the county. Duke Abel of Schleswig, married to a daughter of

Adolf IV, Count of Holstein Adolf IV (before 1205 – 8 July 1261), was a Count of Schauenburg (1225–1238) and of Holstein (1227–1238), of the House of Schaumburg. Adolf was the eldest son of Adolf III of Schauenburg and Holstein by his second wife, Adelheid of Quer ...

and former guardian of his brothers-in-law, the two young counts of Holstein

John I John I may refer to: People * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526 * John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna * John I o ...

and

Gerhard I Gerard I may refer to: * Gerard I, Count of Guelders * Gerard I of Isenburg-Kempenich * Gerard I of Durbuy See also *Girard I of Roussillon Gerard I (''Girard'' in French and Catalan, ''Gerardo'' in Spanish), called Guinard, was the count of Rous ...

, forced King Eric to abandon his conquest. The following year, Abel and the Holsteiners stormed into Jutland and Funen, burning and pillaging as far north as Randers and Odense. Abel was supported by the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

city of Lübeck, as well as by his brothers Christopher, Lord of Lolland and Falster and Canute, Duke of Blekinge. King Eric retaliated immediately, reconquering the city of Ribe and occupying Abel's patrimonial city of Svendborg the same year. In 1247, he captured Arreskov Castle (''Arreskov Slot'') on Funen, as well as taking Christopher and Canute prisoners. A truce was arranged by Eric's sister Sophie of Denmark (ca 1217–1247) who was the wife of Johann I, Margrave of Brandenburg (c. 1213–1266). The terms of the accord left Eric in firm control of all of Denmark. In 1249 the peasants in Scania rose in rebellion against the plow tax. The king restored order with help from Zealand, but the church, Duke Abel, and the German counts in southern Jutland were pushed into an erstwhile alliance against the king.

Regicide

Erik raised an army and sailed to Estonia to secure his base there in 1249. On his way home in 1250 he took his army to Holstein to prevent the capture of the border fortress of

Rendsburg Rendsburg ( da, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'', nds, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Ecke ...

and to teach the German counts who was still king. His brother, Duke Abel of Schleswig offered him hospitality at his house at Gottorp in Schleswig. That evening as the king gambled with one of the German knights, the duke's chamberlain and a group of other men rushed in and took the king prisoner. They bound him and dragged him out of the duke's house and down to a boat and rowed out into the Schlien. They were followed out onto the water by a second boat. When King Erik heard the voice of his sworn enemy, Lave Gudmundsen (ca. 1195–1252), he realized he was to be killed. One of the captors was paid to deliver the king's death blow with an ax. Erik was beheaded and his body dumped into the Schlien. The next morning two fishermen dragged the king's headless body up in their net. They carried the body to the Dominican Abbey in Schleswig; his body was later transferred to

St. Bendt's Church, Ringsted St. Bendt's Church (Danish: ''Sankt Bendts Kirke'') is a church in Ringsted, Denmark, which was originally part of a Benedictine monastery that burnt down in the 18th century. Built in the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque style, it is the olde ...

in 1257. Eric's brother Abel was sworn in as the successor king. Abel contended he had nothing to do with the murder. Within a year and a half, Abel himself was killed. He was succeeded as king of Denmark by his younger brother

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

Marriage and issue

Eric was married on 17 November 1239 with

Jutta of Saxony Jutta of Saxony (c. 1223 – before 2 February 1267) was Queen of Denmark as the wife of King Eric IV of Denmark. She was the daughter of Albert I, Duke of Saxony. She married king Erik in 1239, and became junior queen consort, since her husband w ...

daughter of Albert I, Duke of Saxony (c. 1175–1260). They were the parents of: *Canute, died young. *Christopher, died young. *

Sophia Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek. It may refer to: *Sophia (wisdom) *Sophia (Gnosticism) *Sophia (given name) Places *Niulakita or Sophia, an island of Tuvalu *Sophia, Georgetown, a ward of Georgetown, Guyana *Sophia, North Carolina, an unincorpor ...

(1241–1286), married to King

Valdemar of Sweden Valdemar (English: Waldemar; sv, Valdemar Birgersson; 1239 – 26 December 1302) was King of Sweden from 1250 to 1275. Biography Valdemar was the son of the Swedish princess Ingeborg Eriksdotter and Birger Jarl, from the House of Bjelbo. ...

. Their descendants included Christian I of Denmark. *

Ingeborg Ingeborg is a Germanic feminine given name, mostly used in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, derived from Old Norse ''Ingiborg, Ingibjǫrg'', combining the theonym ''Ing'' with the element ''borg'' "stronghold, protection". Ingebjørg is the No ...

(1244–1287), married to King Magnus VI of Norway. *

Jutta The feminine name Jutta (pronounced "yutta") is the German form of Judith. There is also an alternative theory that it could be derived from the Germanic name ''Eutha'', meaning "mankind, child, descendant", or from a short form of ''Henrietta'' ...

(1246–1284), Abbess of

St. Agnes' Priory, Roskilde St. Agnes' Priory (''Sankt Agnetekloster'') was a Danish convent for women of the Dominican Order. It was situated in Roskilde and was in operation from 1264 until the Danish Reformation. . History In 1264, St. Agnes' Priory was founded north of ...

. * Agnes (1249–1288/95), Abbess of

; reputedly married to Eric Longbone, Lord of Langeland.

References

Other Sources

* * Bain, Robert Nisbet (1905) ''Scandinavia: A Political History of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1513 to 1900'' (Cambridge: University Press) {{DEFAULTSORT:Eric 04 Of Denmark 1216 births 1250 deaths House of Estridsen 13th-century murdered monarchs Danish murder victims People murdered in Denmark Deaths by decapitation Burials at St. Bendt's Church, Ringsted Medieval child rulers 13th-century kings of Denmark