Henry, Duke of Schleswig ( – August 1375) was Duke of

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

(or

Southern Jutland Southern Jutland ( da, Sønderjylland; German: Südjütland) is the name for the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland, Denmark and north of the Eider (river) in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The region north of the Kongeå is called da, Nør ...

, as the Danes call it) from 1364 until his death.

Life and work

Henry was the younger son of King

Valdemar III of Denmark Valdemar III (1314–1364) was King of Denmark from 1326 to 1329, while he was underage; he was also Duke of Schleswig as Valdemar V in 1325–26 and from 1330 to 1364. He was a rival king set up against the unsuccessful Christopher II and was w ...

, who was Duke of Schleswig as Valdemar V. His elder brother, Hereditary Prince Valdemar ( – 1360) had co-signed several documents with his father. After Valdemar died in 1360, Henry took this rôle. His family was from the Abelslægten branch of the

House of Estridsen The House of Estridsen was a dynasty that provided the kings of Denmark from 1047 to 1412. The dynasty is named after its ancestor Estrid Svendsdatter. The dynasty is sometimes called the ''Ulfinger'', after Estrid's husband, Ulf Jarl. The dyna ...

, descended from the deposed King

Abel of Denmark Abel Valdemarsen (1218 – 29 June 1252) was Duke of Schleswig from 1232 to 1252 and King of Denmark from 1250 until his death in 1252. He was the son of Valdemar II by his second wife, Berengaria of Portugal, and brother to kings Eric IV and Chr ...

. His aunt was

Helvig of Schleswig Helvig of Schleswig (also erroneously Hedwig; 1320–1374) was the queen of Denmark as the spouse of King Valdemar IV. She was the mother of Queen Margaret I of Denmark. Life Helvig was the daughter of Eric II, Duke of Schleswig, and Adelaide ...

. In 1364, Henry inherited only the some parts of the Duchy of Schleswig, because the southern part had been pledged to the

counts of Holstein The Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein were titles of the Frankish Empire. The dynastic family came from the County of Schauenburg near Rinteln (district Schaumburg) on the Weser in Germany. Together with its ancestral possessions in Bückeburg ...

and another part had been given to his mother, Richardis of Schwerin, as her

Wittum Wittum (), Widum or Witthum is a medieval Latin legal term, known in marital and ecclesiastical law. Provide for a widow at the wedding The term referred initially to steps taken by a husband to provide for his wife if she became a widow. The wi ...

, to supply her during her widowhood. This left only a small part of the Duchy for Henry, and he was often short of funds. In 1367, he even had to pledge 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.

to the Danish noble Panter family. His territory was wedged between those of the strong King

Valdemar IV of Denmark Valdemar IV Atterdag (the epithet meaning "Return of the Day"), or Waldemar (132024 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance ...

in the north and Counts Henry II (1317–1384) and Nicholas (1320–1397) of Holstein-Rendsburg in the south. He tried to mediate between the warring parties, but was caught in the crossfire. In June 1374, he handed over all his pledge deeds to the Danish king. He died in August 1375 and was buried in the church of

Sorø Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality in Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in east Denmark. The population is 7,999 (2022).

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

, the largest island in Denmark.

Marriage and issue

Henry married Kunigunde (d. 1386), whose family had not been identified. His marriage remained childless, and thus the line of dukes of Schleswig from the Abelslægten line of the

died out with Henry's death. His widow went to Denmark, where she died. He was buried in Sorø Klosterkirke.

References

* ''Dansk biografisk leksikon'', vol. 10, Copenhagen, 1936 * ''Diplomatarium Danicum'' III, 9, Nr. 375 (contains the pledge letters of 1374), Copenhagen 1982 * Otto Brandt: ''Geschichte Schleswig-Holsteins'', Kiel, 1989 * Hans J. Runge: ''Niehuus in der spätmittelalterlichen Landesgeschichte'', in: ''Jahrbuch des Heimatvereins Schleswigsche Geest 2003'', Husum, 2002 * H.V. Gregersen: ''Slesvig og Holsten indtil 1830'', Copenhagen, 1981 {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry of Schleswig Henry 01 House of Estridsen 1342 births 1375 deaths 14th-century German nobility 14th-century Danish nobility Burials at Sorø Abbey Sons of kings