Christopher I of Denmark
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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 Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241. Background He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophi ...
by his second wife, Berengaria of Portugal. He succeeded his brothers Eric IV Plovpenning and
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 ...
on the throne. Christopher was elected king upon the death of his older brother Abel in the summer of 1252. He was crowned 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 ...
on
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
1252.


King of Denmark

Christopher began organizing the effort to have his brother Erik IV Plovpenning
canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...
, laying his murder directly at the feet of his other brother
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 ...
. If recognized by the pope, the murder would exclude Abel's sons from the succession and guarantee Christopher's own sons Denmark's crown. This meant that Christopher as a younger son tried to keep the sons of his older brothers from ruling Denmark, which went against prevailing customs. The king spent most of his reign fighting his many opponents. By allowing Abel's son, Valdemar Abelsøn, to be
Duke of Schleswig The following is a list of jarls and dukes, who ruled over Schleswig respectively Southern Jutland (Sønderjylland). First jarls/dukes Houses of Estridsen and Schauenburg (1080–1460) House of Oldenburg In 1864, following the Second Sch ...
he prevented an all-out civil war, but became the target of intrigue and treachery. Southern Jutland including
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 ...
and
Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...
were independent from the king's rule for a time. Christopher also gained a ferocious enemy in the newly named
Archbishop of Lund List of (arch)bishops of Lund. Until the Danish Reformation the centre of a great Latin (arch)bishopric, Lund has been in Sweden since the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The Diocese of Lund is now one of thirteen in the Church of Sweden. Catho ...
,
Jacob Erlandsen Jakob Erlandsen (died 18 February 1274) was a Danish Archbishop of Lund (1254–1274) and the central character of the first great church conflict in Denmark. History Belonging to a wealthy magnate family ( Galen clan) that was related to Ar ...
, who was closely connected with Abel's family. Erlandsen asserted his rights often at odds with the king. King Christopher insisted that the church pay taxes like any other land owner. Bishop Jacob refused and went so far as to forbid
peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
s who lived or worked on church properties to give military service to King Christopher. Erlandsen was perhaps the wealthiest man in the kingdom and insisted that the secular government have no control or hold over the church, its property, or ecclesiastical personnel. He simply
excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
the king to show that he wasn't about to surrender to the king's will. After an incursion into
Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömseb ...
by Haakon IV of Norway, in 1256, Christopher was reconciled with the kings of
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
and
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 country located on ...
which had been provoked by Abel's interventions. There were peasant uprisings against King Christopher the same year and again in 1258 as a result of Christopher's new property tax. Archbishop Jacob refused to recognize Christopher's young son, Eric, as Denmark's rightful heir in 1257 and threatened excommunication against any bishop who anointed the prince as king of Denmark. That was the last straw. He ordered Bishop Erlandsen's own brother to arrest the troublesome archbishop. Christopher humiliated the proud and powerful Archbishop Jakob by forcing him to wear secular clothing and a fool's cap with a fox tail attached. The archbishop was paraded through the country to Hagenskov near Assens where he was chained and cast into prison. Erlandsen had ordered at a
Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and the R ...
church council that if he was imprisoned that the bishops were to declare interdict against the whole country, but none of them did. Bishop of Roskilde
Peder Bang Peter is a common masculine given name. It is derived directly from Greek , ''Petros'' (an invented, masculine form of Greek '' petra,'' the word for "rock" or "stone"), which itself was a translation of Aramaic ''Kefa'' ("stone, rock"), the new n ...
fled to
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 convinced Chief Jaromar II to invade
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 ...
. Huitfeldt, Arild. Danmark's Riges Krønike Christopher tried to have his brother Eric IV canonized, but without Archbishop Jacobs' support it came to naught. When Duke Valdemar died, King Christopher tried to prevent Valdemar's brother, Eric Abelsøn, from taking the duke's place. Valdemar's widow encouraged a few counts of northern Germany to rebel. In the confusion, Christopher fled to Southern Jutland to stay with the Bishop of Ribe. The King died unexpectedly after taking Holy Communion. According to contemporary sources, King Christopher died after drinking poisoned communion wine from the hands of abbot Arnfast of
Ryd Abbey Ryd Abbey or Rüde Abbey ( da, Ryd Kloster; german: Rüdekloster; la, Rus regis) was a Cistercian monastery in Munkbrarup that formerly occupied the present site of Glücksburg Castle in Glücksburg on the Flensburg Fjord in the Schleswig-Flensbu ...
in revenge for his mistreatment of Archbishop Erlendsen and the king's oppression of the church. King Christopher's excommunication had no effect, and he was buried in front of the high altar of
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 ...
immediately after his death on 29 May 1259. The king may have died of natural causes; Christopher's allies, however, called him ''Krist-Offer'' ("Christ's sacrifice"). Christopher was succeeded by his son Eric, as
Eric V of Denmark Eric V Klipping (1249 – 22 November 1286) was King of Denmark from 1259 to 1286. After his father Christopher I died, his mother Margaret Sambiria ruled Denmark in his name until 1266, proving to be a competent regent. Between 1261 and 1262, ...
.


Legacy

The
Danehof Danehof ("Danish Court") was the name of the Danish medieval parliament which played a certain role between c. 1250 and 1413. The precondition of the Danehof – like that of the Håndfæstning - was the growing power and opposition among Danish ...
became an institution during his rule. It functioned like a national council which had limited advisory and judicial functions. Christopher married
Margaret Sambiria Margaret Sambiria (in Danish: ''Margrethe Sambiria'', ''Sambirsdatter'' or ''Margrethe Sprænghest''; c. 1230 – December 1282) was Queen of Denmark by marriage to King Christopher I, and regent during the minority of her son, King Eric V fro ...
, the daughter of Count
Sambor II of Pomerania Sambor II of Tczew ( pl, Sambor II Tczewski; c. 1211/1212 – December 1277 or 1278) was a duke of Pomerania and prince of Lubiszewo Tczewskie. Sambor was a son of Mestwin I, Duke of Pomerania, and member of the Samborides. He was married to ...
, in 1248 and had at least three children: *King
Eric V of Denmark Eric V Klipping (1249 – 22 November 1286) was King of Denmark from 1259 to 1286. After his father Christopher I died, his mother Margaret Sambiria ruled Denmark in his name until 1266, proving to be a competent regent. Between 1261 and 1262, ...
. (1249–1286) *Niels (d. 21 December 1259), died young *Valdemar, died young *Matilda (1250–1299/1300), married to
Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel ( – between 19 November and 4 December 1300) was a Margrave of Margraviate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg. He was a member of the Brandenburg-Salzwedel branch of the House of Ascania, which existed ...
*Margaret (c. 1257–1306), married to John II, Count of Holstein-Kiel


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher 01 Of Denmark House of Estridsen People excommunicated by the Catholic Church 1219 births 1259 deaths Burials at Ribe Cathedral 13th-century kings of Denmark