Sigfred
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Sigfred was an eighth century
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 a ...
king who is known to have reigned from before 777 to after 798. Fragments of his reign can be traced via
Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
sources.


Assistance to Widukind

King Sigfred is first mentioned in 777 when the
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
chief
Widukind Widukind, also known as Wittekind, was a leader of the Saxons and the chief opponent of the Frankish king Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 777 to 785. Charlemagne ultimately prevailed, organized Saxony as a Frankish province, massacred tho ...
, leader of the resistance against
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
, fled
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
in the face of the Frankish onslaught. Widukind found refuge with Sigfred, but the Frankish annals do not say in detail what kind of assistance the Danish king may have provided. At any rate, Charlemagne made no attempt to subordinate or threaten the Danes during his Saxon campaigns. German chronicles, to better espouse the family tree of Widukind’s heirs, stated that he was married to Sigfred's daughter Geva.


Frankish diplomacy

In the summer of 782, Charlemagne led his armed forces to the sources of the
Lippe River The Lippe () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Rhine and in length with an elevation difference of 125 metres and a catchment area of 4.890 km². The source is located at the edge of the Teutoburg ...
, staying there for some time. On this occasion he received envoys from Sigfred, although the details of the negotiations are not disclosed. Shortly after, Widukind left his Nordic refuge and returned to Saxony where he successfully egged the population to rebel against the Frankish king. He then led the Saxon resistance until 785 when he finally submitted to Charlemagne. For several years there is no mention of the Danish king, but in 798 Charlemagne sent one of his trustees, Godeskalk, on a diplomatic mission to Sigfred. On his return, Godeskalk was slain by the rebellious Saxons living to the north-east of the
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
. When the Franks put down the rebellion they were helped by the prince of the
Obotrites The Obotrites ( la, Obotriti, Abodritorum, Abodritos…) or Obodrites, also spelled Abodrites (german: Abodriten), were a confederation of medieval West Slavs, West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in norther ...
,
Drozko Thrasco (Latin: Thrasucon, Drascon) ( fl. 795 – 810) was the Prince ( knyaz) of the Obotrite confederation from 795 until his death in 810. He succeeded his father, Witzlaus II, who had been ambushed and killed by the revolting Saxons. Thrasc ...
, who would later on be dealt with by Sigfred's successor
Gudfred Gudfred was a ninth century Danish king who reigned from at least 804 to 810. Alternate spellings include ''Godfred'' (Danish), ''Göttrick'' (German), ''Gøtrik'' (Danish), ''Gudrød'' (Danish), and ''Godofredus'' (Latin). He stands at the thres ...
. Poems by the Lombard literati
Peter of Pisa Peter of Pisa ( la, Petrus Pisanus; it, Pietro da Pisa; 744 – 799 AD), also known as Petrus Grammaticus, was an Italian grammarian, deacon and poet in the Early Middle Ages. In 776, after Charlemagne's conquest of the Lombard Kingdom, Peter was ...
and
Paulus Diaconus Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, sc ...
convey a very negative image of Sigfred. Peter wrote that Charlemagne had let him choose between being fettered, imprisoned, or sent to convert Sigfred. In a poetic reply, Paulus castigated the Danish king as a wild beast who ruled over other wild animals; an uncouth pagan who would nevertheless be unable to stand up against the mighty Frankish ruler. If he dared molest Peter and his entourage and refuse Christianisation, he would quickly be led before Charlemagne's throne in fetters, abandoned by
Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...
(Waten) and
Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
(Thonar). It is interesting that the characterization is similar to that accorded to
Ongendus Ongendus (perhaps Angantyr in Danish) was a king of the Danes, reigning c. 710, the first Danish king known from contemporary literature. Historical background He was presumably king of a stronger and more unified Denmark that rose at the en ...
, one of Sigfred's predecessors in the early 8th century. The poems also indicate that the Danes had started to draw some attention from the Carolingian elite by this time. The reign of Sigfred had ended by 804 when another ruler,
Gudfred Gudfred was a ninth century Danish king who reigned from at least 804 to 810. Alternate spellings include ''Godfred'' (Danish), ''Göttrick'' (German), ''Gøtrik'' (Danish), ''Gudrød'' (Danish), and ''Godofredus'' (Latin). He stands at the thres ...
, is mentioned in the Frankish annals.


Place in early Danish history

Nothing is known about Sigfred's relationship to
Gudfred Gudfred was a ninth century Danish king who reigned from at least 804 to 810. Alternate spellings include ''Godfred'' (Danish), ''Göttrick'' (German), ''Gøtrik'' (Danish), ''Gudrød'' (Danish), and ''Godofredus'' (Latin). He stands at the thres ...
, who succeeded him as king of Denmark c. 804–810, or later kings such as Hemming (810–812), Harald 'Klak' Halfdansson (812-813, 819–827) and
Horik I Horik I or Hårik (died 854) was a king of the Danes. He was co-ruler from 813, and sole king from c. 828 until his violent death in 854. His long and eventful reign was marked by Danish raids on the Carolingian Empire of Louis the Pious, son a ...
(813–854). Since the name
Sigfred Sigfred was an eighth century Danish king who is known to have reigned from before 777 to after 798. Fragments of his reign can be traced via Frankish sources. Assistance to Widukind King Sigfred is first mentioned in 777 when the Saxon chie ...
was borne by a nephew of Gudfred, he is often taken to have been the father of Gudfred, since children were often named after their grandfathers. The approximate dates of Sigfred's reign, and references to a King Harald who may have been either a predecessor, co-ruler or immediate successor of Sigfred, has led to speculations about a link with the legendary Swedish and Danish ruler
Sigurd Hring Sigurd Ring (Old Norse: ''Sigurðr Hringr'', in some sources merely called ''Hringr'') according to legend was a king of the Swedes, being mentioned in many old Scandinavian sagas. According to these sources he was granted rulership over Sweden a ...
. According to the sagas, Sigurd Hring defeated the Danish ruler
Harald Wartooth Harald Wartooth or ''Harold Hiltertooth'' (Old Norse: Haraldr hilditǫnn; Modern Swedish and Danish: Harald Hildetand; Modern Norwegian: ''Harald Hildetann''; flourished 8th century) was a legendary king of Denmark who is mentioned in several trad ...
at the
Battle of Brávellir The Battle of Brávellir or the Battle of Bråvalla was a legendary battle, said to have taken place c.770, that is described in the sagas as taking place on the Brávellir between Sigurd Hring, king of Sweden and the Geats of Västergötland, and ...
2-3 generations before the first Danish conquest of England but the historicity of Hring, Wartooth and the battle are uncertain. According to the ''
Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok The Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok ( non, Ragnars saga loðbrókar) is an Icelandic legendary saga of the 13th century about the Viking ruler Ragnar Lodbrok. It is part of the manuscript of the ''Völsunga saga'', which it immediately follows. The tale co ...
'' saga, Sigurd Hring was the father of the legendary Viking leader
Ragnar Lodbrok according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Danish and Swedish king.Gutenberg Projec ...
. Modern scholarship is in agreement that part of the genealogy of the early Viking Age kings of Denmark is of
High medieval The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 1500 ...
era documentation. It has been theorized that Sigfred's father was
Ongendus Ongendus (perhaps Angantyr in Danish) was a king of the Danes, reigning c. 710, the first Danish king known from contemporary literature. Historical background He was presumably king of a stronger and more unified Denmark that rose at the en ...
, or Angantyr, which is problematic because there is more than half a century between them. The two kings may nevertheless have been related since a Danish prince Angantyr is known to have flourished in 811, and the name is extremely unusual.''Einhards Jahrbücher'', Anno 81

p. 121.
The recurrence of the names Angantyr, Sigfred, Harald and Gudfred throughout the 8th and 9th centuries suggests that the kings of the early
Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...
were mutually related.


References

{{authority control Danish monarchs Scyldings 8th-century monarchs in Europe