The Hvide clan (English: ''Whites'') was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Danish

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

, and afterwards in

early modern era The early modern period is a historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There is no exact date ...

a Danish noble

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

of presumably one surviving branch of leaders of that clan. Before the 16th century it was not used as a surname. It signified the color

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

Medieval Hvide clan

The Hvide were influential in the Danish island of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

, and occasionally in other close parts of the country, such as other Danish islands and

Skåne Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

. They had a stronghold in

Jørlunde Jørlunde is a village with a population of 295 (1 January 2024) in North Zealand in Denmark. In the late Viking age and early medieval age, Jørlunde was the center of the Hvide clan. Jørlunde Church (''Joerlunde Kirke'') was erected by Skjalm ...

. A folktale of the clan name contrasts this clan against the "black" clan of Viking leaders of

(that then belonged to Denmark but now belongs to Sweden) ("Svarte Skåning") who had

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, 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 g ...

as their chief god. The white islander clan were "protectees" of non-black god

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

. The Hvide leaders seem to have been among first to convert to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, and later, the clansmen regularly rose to highest positions of Danish church, including several Roman Catholic

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

s of

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

. Several leaders of the clan and of variety of its branches are known since the early 12th century. At that time, a number of Hvide leaders were dubbed as "brothers" and as sons of mythical

Skjalm Hvide Skjalm Hvide (before 1045 – c. 1113), was the Earl of Zealand in Denmark in the end of the Viking Age (793–1066) and up to his death. Skjalm's father was Toke Trylle, whose father was ''Slag'' (or ''Slau'', or he may have been called by b ...

, earl of Zealand in the latter half of the 11th century; or as his grandsons. Such genealogy is however probably a mythical invention, them generally being more distant kinsmen with each other and "brothers" in the sense of being leaders of parts of the same clan.

Family of Stig Hvitaleder

Stig Tokesen (died 1150) was chieftain of the Hvide (''Hvitaledr''), a magnate and clan leader in the mid-12th century. His first wife, Margrete Knudsdatter af

Hedeby Hedeby (, Old Norse: ''Heiðabýr'', German: ''Haithabu'') was an important Danish Viking Age (8th to the 11th centuries) trading settlement near the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula, now in the Schleswig-Flensburg district of Schleswig ...

, was a sister of the future King

Valdemar I of Denmark Valdemar I Knudsen (14 January 1131 – 12 May 1182), also known as Valdemar the Great (), was King of Denmark from 1154 until his death in 1182. The reign of King Valdemar I saw the rise of Denmark, which reached its medieval zenith under his s ...

and daughter of the "martyred"

Knud Lavard Saint Knud, also known as Canute Lavard ( Danish: Knud Lavard; cognate with English Lord; 12 March 1096 – 7 January 1131) was a Danish prince. Later he was the first Duke of Schleswig and the first border prince who was both a Danish and a ...

, granddaughter of King

Eric I of Denmark Eric I ( – 10 July 1103), also known as Eric the Good or Eric Evergood (), was King of Denmark following his brother Olaf I Hunger in 1095. He was a son of Sweyn II. His mother's identity remains unknown. He married Boedil Thurgotsdatter. ...

and his wife

Boedil Thurgotsdatter Boedil (Bodil) Thurgotsdatter (died 1103) was a Danish queen, queen consort of King Eric I of Denmark. Biography Boedil was the daughter of the Danish Earl Thurgot Fagerskind and Thorgunna and the sister of Svend Thrugotsen. Her grandfather, ...

(died 1103). The couple's daughter, Kirsten Stigsdatter () was married to King

Charles VII of Sweden Karl Sverkersson or Charles VII ( – 12 April 1167) was the ruler of Götaland, and then King of Sweden from to 1167, when he was assassinated in a military attack by Knut Eriksson who then succeeded him as king. Pretender to the throne Karl wa ...

Family of Asser Rig

Brothers

Absalon Absalon (21 March 1201) was a Danish statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death. He was the foremost politician and church father of De ...

archbishop of Lund List of (arch)bishops of Lund. Until the Reformation in Denmark, 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 Ch ...

and

Esbern Snare Esbern Snare (1127–1204), also known as Esbern the Resolute, was a '' høvding'', or chieftain, royal chancellor and crusader. His family were members of the powerful Hvide clan. In 1192, during the Crusades and after the fall of Jerusalem, h ...

, (1127–1204)

castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

of the

Kalundborg castle Kalundborg () is a Danish city with a population of 16,659 (1 January 2025),cognatic Cognatic kinship is a mode of descent calculated from an ancestor counted through any combination of male and female links, or a system of bilateral kinship where relations are traced through both a father and mother. Such relatives may be know ...

lines, not

agnatic Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

. The "proto"-Galen magnates had originally their seat at Knardrup in Zealand. Lord High Constable Ebbe Sunesen of Knardrup (died 1208), is on one hand counted as one of the proto-Galen, on the other hand traditionally regarded as a Hvide, and thus apparently was a relative of contemporary leaders of the Hvide clan. ( Knardrup Manor), his seat was in northern Zealand, but he is documented to have possessed lands in Skåne (for example, Härlövs borg). After him, the Galen presumably increased their lands in Skåne and more or less moved to that province. Archbishop

Jakob 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 Archb ...

is known to have been one of the brothers who were sons of lady Sidsel, the foremother of the Scanian Galen noble family, herself a descendant and heiress of that Knardrup branch of the Hvide clan.

Litle family

The Litle (de

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

) was a noble family which appears to have started as

cognatic Cognatic kinship is a mode of descent calculated from an ancestor counted through any combination of male and female links, or a system of bilateral kinship where relations are traced through both a father and mother. Such relatives may be know ...

offshoot of the proto-Galen branch of the Hvide clan, and settled to Skåne. Their foremother is mentioned to have been a daughter of the aforementioned Ebbe Sunesen, Lord of Knardrup and Härlöv.

Prelates

The Hvide clan and its relations seem occupied the many powerful positions within the Roman Catholic Church in Denmark for much of the medieval period. Archbishops and bishops considered sons of these clans included: *

bishop of Roskilde The former Diocese of Roskilde () was a diocese within the Roman-Catholic Church which was established in Denmark some time before 1022. The diocese was dissolved with the Reformation of Denmark and replaced by the Protestant Diocese of Zealand ...

, then

Niels Stigsen Niels is a male given name, equivalent to Nicholas, which is common in Denmark, Belgium, Norway (formerly) and the Netherlands. The Norwegian and Swedish variant is Nils. The name is a developed short form of Nicholas or Greek Nikolaos, after Saint ...

, Bishop of the

Diocese of Roskilde The Diocese of Roskilde () 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 Zealand was divided into ...

* Petrus Sunonis, Bishop of the

Andreas Sunonis Anders Sunesen (also ''Andreas'', ''Suneson'', ''Sunesøn'', Latin: ''Andreas Sunonis'') (c. 1167 – 1228) was a Danish archbishop of Lund, Scania, from 21 March 1201, at the death of Absalon, to his own death in 1228. He is the author of ...

, Archbishop of the

Diocese of Lund The Diocese of Lund () is a diocese within the Church of Sweden which corresponds to the provinces of Blekinge and Skåne. There are 217 parishes within the diocese, the most significant number in any of the dioceses of the Church of Sweden. Th ...

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 na ...

, Bishop of the

, Archbishop of the

Karl Eriksen Röde Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cachoe ...

, Archbishop of the

Post-medieval noble family

Frederick I Frederick I or Friedrich I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I ...

, king of Denmark (1523–1533) ordered all nobles to take a surname. At that time, Rødkilde and Katterøe branches of the Hvide clan (according to legendary genealogies, descended from Lord High Constable

Stig Andersen Hvide Stig Andersen Hvide (died December 1293) was a Danish nobleman and magnate, known as the leading man among the outlaws after the murder of King Eric V of Denmark. In Danish tradition, he is known as ''Marsk Stig''. Biography In spite of his surna ...

) yet survived in male line, and they took the surname. These Hvide became extinct in the male line already before the beginning of the 17th century. The 19th Century writer

Herman Bang Herman Joachim Bang (20 April 1857 – 29 January 1912) was a Danish journalist and author, one of the men of the Modern Breakthrough. Biography Early life and education Bang was born in Asserballe, on the small Danish island of Als, the son o ...

was raised by a paternal grandfather, who at times impressed his grandson with stories of their alleged family ties to the historical Hvide clan.

References

{{White-surname Medieval history of Denmark Danish noble families

Medieval Hvide clan

Family of Stig Hvitaleder

Family of Asser Rig

Litle family

Prelates

Post-medieval noble family

See also

References