Valdemar I

king of Denmark

Valdemar I, byname Valdemar the Great, Danish Valdemar den Store,

(born Jan. 14, 1131, Denmark—died May 12, 1182,
Denmark), king of Denmark (1157–82) who ended the Wend (Slav) threat to
Danish shipping, won independence from the Holy Roman emperor, and
gained church approval for hereditary rule by his dynasty, the Valdemars.

The son of Knud Lavard, duke of South Jutland, and a great-grandson of the
Danish king Sweyn II, Valdemar gained sole possession of the monarchy,
concluding more than 25 years of civil wars waged by
competing contenders for the throne. He soon began a series of expeditions
against the Wends, aided by his foster brother Absalon, whom he made bishop
of Roskilde. By 1169 his forces had captured the Wendish stronghold
of Rügen (now in Germany), which was incorporated into the diocese of
Roskilde, and had stormed the Wend sanctuary at Arcona. A year later,
however, he was forced to divide his gains with his ally Henry the Lion, duke
of Saxony.

Valdemar acknowledged the overlordship of the Holy Roman

emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and accepted his antipope Victor IV (or V),
leading Denmark’s chief prelate Eskil, archbishop of Lund, to choose exile
rather than oppose Pope Alexander III. After Valdemar and Bishop
Absalon reneged and acknowledged Alexander in about 1165, Eskil returned to
Denmark, confirmed the canonization of the king’s father, and anointed his
son Canute VI as joint king (1170), inaugurating the hereditary rule of the
Valdemars and vitiating the overlordship of Frederick I.

After sponsoring improvements in Danish fortifications and armed forces to

defend against a possible German attack, Valdemar was able to ally with
Frederick I in 1181 on virtually an equal footing. The alliance was strengthened
by the marriage of Valdemar’s daughter to a son of Frederick. Valdemar’s
strong rule provoked several rebellions that proved unsuccessful; the most
serious (1180) was caused by the policies of Absalon, archbishop of Lund after
1177. The uprising was repressed by Valdemar in 1181.