Eric II the Memorable ( da, Erik II Emune; – 18 September 1137) was
king of Denmark
The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark was alre ...
between 1134 and 1137. Eric was an illegitimate son 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 ...
, who ruled Denmark from 1095 to 1103. Eric the Memorable rebelled against his uncle
Niels of Denmark
Niels ( la, Nicolaus, English exonym Nicholas; – 25 June 1134) was the King of Denmark from 1104 to 1134. Niels succeeded his brother Eric Evergood and is presumed to have been the youngest son of King Sweyn II Estridson. King Niels activel ...
, and was declared king in 1134. He punished his adversaries severely, and rewarded his supporters handsomely. He was killed by a subject in 1137 and was promptly succeeded by his nephew
Eric III of Denmark
Eric III Lamb ( da, Erik III Lam, – 27 August 1146) was the King of Denmark from 1137 until 1146. He was the grandson of Eric I of Denmark and the nephew of Eric II of Denmark, whom he succeeded on the throne. He abdicated in 1146, as t ...
.
Early life
Eric was born around 1090, to King
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 an unknown concubine.
[Stefan Pajung]
Erik Emune ca. 1090–1137
danmarkshistorien.dk, 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 He was given some Danish isles by his half-brother
Canute Lavard,
[ Bricka, Carl Frederik, ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. IV lemens – Eynden 1890]
pp.540–542
and was ''
jarl
Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the pet ...
'' of
Møn
Møn () is an island in south-eastern Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was a municipality in its own right but it is now part of the municipality of Vordingborg, after merging with the former municipalities of Langebæk, Præstø, and Vordin ...
,
Lolland
Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitan ...
, and
Falster
Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010. .
[Palle Birk Hansen]
Forside > Jubilæumslogo > Logohistorier > Peder Bodilsen
, Næstved Municipality
Næstved is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in the south of Denmark. The municipality includes the island of Gavnø. It covers an area of 681 km², and has a total population ...
When Lavard was murdered in 1131, Eric joined his half-brother
Harald Kesja in a rebellion against the responsible king
Niels of Denmark
Niels ( la, Nicolaus, English exonym Nicholas; – 25 June 1134) was the King of Denmark from 1104 to 1134. Niels succeeded his brother Eric Evergood and is presumed to have been the youngest son of King Sweyn II Estridson. King Niels activel ...
.
[Erik 2. Emune](_blank)
at Gyldendals Åbne Encyklopædi Eric was elected Danish
Antiking in
Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...
in April 1131, which prompted Kesja to support Niels in jealousy.
Eric's army lost several battles against Niels and his son
Magnus the Strong,
including
Jelling in
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
in 1131 and
Værbro on
Zealand, and he fled to
Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...
. His retreat earned him the nickname ''Harefoot''.
Eric unsuccessfully tried to convince
Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor
Lothair III, sometimes numbered Lothair II and also known as Lothair of Supplinburg (1075 – 4 December 1137), was Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 until his death. He was appointed Duke of Saxony in 1106 and elected King of Germany in 1125 before ...
to support his bid for kingship,
and had no luck asking
Magnus IV of Norway for help.
He returned to Scania in 1134, where
Archbishop Asser of Lund joined his cause, and Lothair eventually supported him as well.
In 1134, he defeated king Niels' entire army at the
Battle of Fotevik in Scania, with the crucial help of German mounted
mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes Pseudonym, also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a memb ...
,
and Niels died within the year.
Reign
Eric was proclaimed king at Scania's ''
landsting'' assembly at Lerbäckshögen in Kävlingevägen near
Lund
Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish province of Scania, across the Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Scania County. The Öre ...
. Eric subsequently made Lund his
capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...
. With the resounding victory at Fotevik, Eric was given the nickname ''the Memorable'' to replace ''Harefoot''.
Kesja returned to Denmark and was proclaimed king at Urnehoved in
Schleswig. Eric chased him down and killed Harald Kesja and his sons, of whom only
Olaf Haraldsen escaped with his life.
Eric then sought to consolidate and legitimize his rule. He gave titles and privileges to his supporters, and proclaimed Archbishop Asser's nephew
Eskil
Eskil is a town and district of Aksaray Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey, situated on the southern shore of Lake Tuz
Lake Tuz ( tr, Tuz Gölü meaning 'Salt Lake'; anciently Tatta — grc, ἡ Τάττα, la, Tatta Lacus) was ...
(c. 1100-1181), Bishop of the
Diocese of Roskilde.
He initiated the process of getting his half-brother Canute Lavard
canonized, and established an abbey at
Ringsted to document reports of miracles at Canute's grave.
Eric wanted to establish the
divine right of kings
In European Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representin ...
, and canonizing Canute would support his claim on the throne.
Canute was finally canonized in 1170.
Eric was known as a harsh ruler to his enemies.
In the summer of 1136, Eric undertook a
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 ...
against the pagan population on the
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
*Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
island of
Rügen
Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...
and its capital
Arkona.
He ordered his men to dig a canal between the city and the rest of the island. The canal had the effect of drying up the spring which supplied Arkona with drinking water. Arkona was forced to surrender. But in 1135, before this success in Arkona, Eric defeated in a naval battle near Denmark's coast the
lechitic (west-slavic) troops under
pomeranian Duke Ratibor who had sacked
Roskilde
Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...
, and a year later, after the battle of
Konungahela, (now
Kungälv in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
), sacked this city as well. He joined Magnus for an unsuccessful campaign in Norway,
where he managed to burn down
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
.
When he learned that Eskil had raised the nobles of Zealand against him, Eric raced north to put down the rebellion which spread rapidly across
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 o ...
and Jutland, and fined Eskil heavily.
Death
Eric was killed on 18 September 1137.
The death of Eric, as told by
Arild Huitfeldt: A harsh and unpopular ruler, Eric died at Urnehoved ''landsting'' in 1137. King Eric was struck down by a local nobleman, Sorte Plov.
According to legend, Sorte Plov asked permission to approach the king, carrying a spear in his hand with a block of wood protecting the tip. Having deemed that King Eric wore no
mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...
underneath his tunic, Sorte Plov kicked off the protection, and drove his spear right through the king. King Eric's nephew Erik Håkonssøn stepped forward with sword in hand, but the nobleman told him to calm down, seeing as how he – Erik – was next in line for the throne, being the only adult male in the royal family: "Put away thy mace, young Erik. A juicy piece of meat hath fallen in thy bowl!" According to legend, Sorte Plov escaped with his life.
[ Huitfeldt, Arild. ''Danmarks Riges Krønike''.]
Eric was buried at
Ribe Cathedral
Ribe Cathedral or Our Lady Maria Cathedral ( da, Ribe Domkirke or ''Vor Frue Maria Domkirke'') is located in the ancient city of Ribe, on the west coast of southern Jutland, Denmark. It was founded in the Viking Era as the first Christian church in ...
.
Erik Håkonssøn was then crowned
Eric III of Denmark
Eric III Lamb ( da, Erik III Lam, – 27 August 1146) was the King of Denmark from 1137 until 1146. He was the grandson of Eric I of Denmark and the nephew of Eric II of Denmark, whom he succeeded on the throne. He abdicated in 1146, as t ...
.
Issue
Sometime before 1130, Eric married
Malmfred of Kiev
Malmfred of Kiev (between 1095 and 1102 – died after 1137) was a Norwegian and Danish queen consort, wife first to King Sigurd I of Norway and second to king Eric II of Denmark.
Life
Malmfred was born to Grand Prince Mstislav I of Kiev and Pri ...
, the daughter of Grand Duke
Mstislav I of Kiev and
Christina Ingesdotter of Sweden.
Malmfrid was the former wife of King
Sigurd I of Norway
Sigurd Magnusson (1089 – 26 March 1130), also known as Sigurd the Crusader (Old Norse: ''Sigurðr Jórsalafari'', Norwegian: ''Sigurd Jorsalfar''), was King of Norway (being Sigurd I) from 1103 to 1130. His rule, together with his half-broth ...
. With his concubine Thunna, Eric had the illegitimate son Sweyn, who would later become king as
Sweyn III of Denmark
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, ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eric 02 Of Denmark
1090s births
1137 deaths
House of Estridsen
12th-century murdered monarchs
Danish murder victims
People murdered in Denmark
Year of birth uncertain
Burials at Ribe Cathedral
Illegitimate children of Danish monarchs
12th-century kings of Denmark