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Eric IV of Denmark
Eric IV of Denmark
Eric IV of Denmark
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Eric IV (c. 1216 – 10 August 1250), also known as Eric Ploughpenny or Eric Plowpenny (Danish: Erik Plovpenning), was King of Denmark from 1241 until his death in 1250. His reign was marked by conflict and civil wars against his brothers.[1]

Key Information

Early life

[edit]

Eric was the son of Valdemar II of Denmark and brother of King Abel of Denmark and King Christopher I of Denmark. He was born ca. 1216 as the second legitimate son of King Valdemar II by his second wife Berengária of Portugal.[2]

In 1218, when his older half-brother Valdemar the Young was crowned king as their father's co-ruler and designated heir, he was created Duke of Schleswig. After the premature death of Valdemar in 1231, Eric was crowned king at Lund Cathedral 30 May 1232 as his father's co-ruler and heir. Subsequently, he ceded the Duchy of Schleswig to his younger brother Abel. When his father died in 1241, he ascended to the throne.[3]

Rule

[edit]

His rule was marked by bitter conflicts, especially against his brother, Duke Abel of Schleswig who seems to have wanted an independent position and who was supported by the counts of Holstein. Eric also fought the Scanian peasants, who rebelled because of his hard taxes on ploughs, among other things. The number of ploughs a man owned was used as a measure of his wealth. This gave the king the epithet "plough-penny" (Danish: Plovpenning).[4]

Eric had only been king for about a year when he first came into conflict with his brother, Duke Abel of Schleswig, in 1242. The conflict lasted for three years before the brothers agreed on a truce in 1244 and made plans for a joint crusade to Estonia. At the same time Eric faced trouble from the religious orders who insisted that they were immune from taxes that Eric might assess. Eric wanted the church lands taxed as any other land holder would be. The Pope sent a nuncio to negotiate between the king and the bishops at Odense in 1245. Excommunication was threatened for anyone, great or small who trespassed upon the ancient rights and privileges of the church. It was a clear warning to Eric that the church would not tolerate his continued insistence at assessing church property for tax purposes.[5]

Infuriated, in 1249 King Eric directed his rage at Niels Stigsen, Bishop of the Diocese of Roskilde who fled Denmark the same year. Eric confiscated the bishopric's properties in Zealand, including the emerging city of Copenhagen. In spite of intervention from Pope Innocent IV who advocated the reinstatement of the bishop and the return of the properties to the diocese, the dispute could not be resolved. Niels Stigsen died in 1249 at Clairvaux Abbey. The properties were not restored to the diocese until after the death of King Eric in 1250.[6]

The conflict between King Eric and his brothers had broken out again in 1246. The conflict started when Eric invaded Holstein in an attempt to restore his father's control of the county. Duke Abel of Schleswig, married to a daughter of Adolf IV, Count of Holstein and former guardian of his brothers-in-law, the two young counts of Holstein John I and Gerhard I, forced King Eric to abandon his conquest. The following year, Abel and the Holsteiners stormed into Jutland and Funen, burning and pillaging as far north as Randers and Odense. Abel was supported by the Hanseatic League city of Lübeck, as well as by his brothers Christopher, Lord of Lolland and Falster and Canute, Duke of Blekinge.[7]

King Eric retaliated immediately, reconquering the city of Ribe and occupying Abel's patrimonial city of Svendborg the same year. In 1247, he captured Arreskov Castle (Arreskov Slot) on Funen, as well as taking Christopher and Canute prisoners. A truce was arranged by Eric's sister Sophie of Denmark (ca 1217–1247) who was the wife of Johann I, Margrave of Brandenburg (c. 1213–1266). The terms of the accord left Eric in firm control of all of Denmark. In 1249 the peasants in Scania rose in rebellion against the plough tax. The king restored order with help from Zealand, but the church, Duke Abel, and the German counts in southern Jutland were pushed into an erstwhile alliance against the king.[8][9]

Regicide

[edit]
Eric Plovpenning's relics in Schleswig Cathedral.

Erik raised an army and sailed to Estonia to secure his base there in 1249. On his way home in 1250 he took his army to Holstein to prevent the capture of the border fortress of Rendsburg and to teach the German counts who was still king. His brother, Duke Abel of Schleswig offered him hospitality at his house at Gottorp in Schleswig. That evening as the king gambled with one of the German knights, the duke's chamberlain and a group of other men rushed in and took the king prisoner. They bound him and dragged him out of the duke's house and down to a boat and rowed out into the Schlien. They were followed out onto the water by a second boat. When King Erik heard the voice of his sworn enemy, Lave Gudmundsen (ca. 1195–1252), he realized he was to be killed. One of the captors was paid to deliver the king's death blow with an ax. Erik was beheaded and his body dumped into the Schlien. The next morning two fishermen dragged the king's headless body up in their net. They carried the body to the Dominican Abbey in Schleswig; his body was later transferred to St. Bendt's Church, Ringsted in 1257.[10][11]

Eric's brother Abel was sworn in as the successor king. Abel contended he had nothing to do with the murder. Within a year and a half, Abel himself was killed. He was succeeded as king of Denmark by his younger brother Christopher.[12]

Marriage and issue

[edit]

Eric was married on 17 November 1239 with Jutta of Saxony daughter of Albert I, Duke of Saxony (c. 1175–1260).[13] They were the parents of:

References

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Other sources

[edit]
  • Line, Philip (2007). Kingship and State Formation in Sweden: 1130 - 1290. (Brill Publishers). ISBN 978-90-47-41983-9
  • Bain, Robert Nisbet (1905) Scandinavia: A Political History of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1513 to 1900 (Cambridge: University Press)
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Eric IV of Denmark

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Eric IV (c. 1216 – 10 August 1250), also known as Eric Plovpenning ("Plow Penny"), was King of Denmark from 1241 until his assassination. The second son of King Valdemar II and Berengaria of Portugal, he co-ruled with his father from 1232 before ascending as sole monarch upon Valdemar's death. His nickname derived from a controversial tax on plows imposed to fund military campaigns and clerical education, reflecting his efforts to centralize royal authority amid fiscal pressures. Eric's nine-year reign was defined by familial rivalries, civil wars with his brothers Abel and Christopher I, and tensions with the Church over taxation and influence. These conflicts culminated in his murder on a royal barge in the Schlei inlet, where he was reportedly decapitated and dumped into the water, an act widely attributed to agents of his brother Abel, who subsequently seized the throne. Despite the violence, Eric was later venerated as a martyr-saint in parts of Denmark, with reported miracles at his tomb fostering a cult that persisted without formal canonization. His rule exemplified the precarious balance of medieval Danish monarchy, where economic innovations clashed with noble and ecclesiastical opposition, precipitating a decade of instability.

Early Life

Birth and Family Background

Eric IV, also known as Eric Ploughpenny, was born in approximately 1216 as the second son of King Valdemar II of Denmark and his second wife, Berengária of Portugal. Valdemar II (1170–1241), of the House of Estridsen, ruled Denmark from 1202 and expanded its territories through conquests in the Baltic region, though his reign was also marked by the disastrous Battle of Bornhöved in 1227, which curtailed Danish influence. Berengária (c. 1198–1221), daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal and niece of King Afonso II, married Valdemar in 1214 following the death of his first wife, Dagmar of Bohemia, and bore him four children before her death. Eric's elder half-brother from Valdemar II's first marriage, Valdemar the Young (1209–1231), served as co-ruler and until his death, after which Eric became the primary successor among the legitimate sons. His full siblings included (1217–1247), who married John I, Margrave of Brandenburg; Abel (1218–1252), who later became king; and Christopher I (1219–1259), also a future king of . This fraternal lineup reflected the dynastic continuity of the Estridsen line, which had dominated Danish since the , though it foreshadowed later conflicts among the brothers over power and resources.

Upbringing and Preparation for Kingship

Eric IV, born circa 1216 as the second son of King and his wife , experienced a childhood marked by the privileges and instabilities of royal life in early 13th-century . Soon after his birth, he was designated as hertug (), a title signaling early recognition of his potential role in governance, though his elder brother Valdemar (known as Valdemar the Young, born 1209) initially held primacy as heir. The death of his mother in 1221 disrupted family dynamics, leaving Valdemar II to oversee the rearing of his sons amid ongoing territorial expansions and internal consolidations. By age seven in 1223, Eric's early years intersected with a major crisis when his father and elder brother were captured by German Count Henry of during a hunt on the island of Lyø, an event that strained Danish resources and delayed royal tutelage until the king's partial release and ransom negotiations progressed. Eric himself spent his formative period at the Danish court, receiving a rigorous education tailored to future , encompassing skills in administration, , and relations—essentials for navigating the feudal and clerical power structures of medieval . The death of Valdemar the Young in 1231 elevated Eric to , accelerating his preparation for rule under his father's direct guidance during the latter's declining years. In 1232, at approximately age 16, he was crowned co-king alongside Valdemar II, a customary Danish practice to ensure dynastic continuity and involve the heir in active governance, including participation in councils and campaigns that honed his authority amid brewing fraternal rivalries. This phase solidified his transition from princely education to practical kingship, though limited contemporary records constrain detailed accounts of specific mentors or curricula beyond the court's institutional framework.

Ascension to Power

Co-Regency with Valdemar II

Eric IV ascended to the position of Junior King of following the death of his elder half-brother, Valdemar the Young, on 28 November 1231, who had previously served as co-ruler with their father, Valdemar II. On 30 May 1232, Eric was crowned as Junior King at , formally becoming co-regent and designated to Valdemar II, thereby initiating a nine-year period of joint rule. In conjunction with this elevation, Eric ceded administrative control over the to his younger brother Abel, who had been granted the duchy earlier as part of familial power-sharing arrangements. The co-regency, spanning from 1232 to 1241, adhered to Danish tradition of associating heirs in governance to ensure dynastic continuity and mitigate succession disputes, a practice exemplified by Valdemar the Young's prior tenure from 1215. During this time, Valdemar II retained primary authority, focusing on consolidating territorial gains and ecclesiastical alliances amid ongoing threats from the and Nordic rivals, while Eric gained experience in royal administration without documented independent initiatives of note. The arrangement concluded with Valdemar II's death on 28 March 1241 at Vordingborg Castle, after which Eric IV assumed sole kingship without immediate contest.

Sole Kingship and Initial Challenges

Upon the death of his father, Valdemar II, on 28 March 1241, Eric IV ascended to sole kingship of , ending the co-regency that had begun in 1232 following the death of his elder brother Valdemar the Young. As the designated heir, Eric inherited a realm stabilized by his father's conquests but facing latent tensions from noble privileges and regional autonomies. Eric's initial years as sole monarch were overshadowed by familial rivalries, particularly with his brother Abel, Duke of Schleswig. In 1242, scarcely a year into his rule, conflict erupted when Eric invaded to reassert royal authority over the county, which Abel's marriage to the daughter of Count Adolf IV had complicated through competing claims. This fraternal dispute, rooted in Abel's ambitions for greater autonomy in and , escalated into armed confrontation lasting approximately two to three years until a truce was reached. Efforts to centralize royal power further strained relations with the nobility and church, as Eric sought to curtail ducal privileges and fund military endeavors, setting the stage for broader internal instability. These early challenges highlighted the fragility of Valdemar II's legacy, with competing power ambitions among the royal brothers undermining unified governance from the outset.

Domestic Policies and Reforms

Taxation Innovations Including the Ploughpenny

Eric IV's taxation policies emphasized systematic revenue generation to support military campaigns and administrative needs amid fiscal strains from prior wars. The most notable innovation associated with his reign was the plovpenning, or plough tax, which imposed a levy of one per as a measure of a household's agricultural capacity and wealth. This approach represented an early form of direct, asset-based , shifting from irregular feudal obligations toward more predictable royal income streams. Although initiated by his father Valdemar II circa 1234 to fund stable coinage in lieu of periodic recoinage, Eric IV rigorously enforced and expanded the tax's application during his sole rule from 1241 onward, applying it across regions like and to finance defenses against German counts in and Wendish threats. The tax's design allowed for efficient assessment via the number of ploughs, correlating with cultivated land, and aimed to underwrite a nascent national military force independent of noble levies. These measures, however, generated significant opposition. Peasants in rebelled in 1249 against the plough tax's burdens, viewing it as an excessive drain on rural livelihoods, which required royal forces from to suppress. Eric IV's further innovation involved attempting to extend taxation to church estates, traditionally exempt, prompting ecclesiastical resistance and papal interventions that limited royal assessments on clerical holdings. Despite these tensions, the plough tax persisted beyond his death in 1250, influencing subsequent fiscal practices until its phased reduction.

Church Relations and Ecclesiastical Support

Eric IV's relations with the were characterized by efforts to assert royal authority over ecclesiastical matters, leading to significant tensions, particularly regarding taxation and investiture rights. Seeking to bolster royal finances amid military campaigns, he attempted to impose taxes on church lands equivalent to those on secular holdings, challenging long-standing clerical exemptions. This policy provoked opposition from Danish bishops, who viewed it as an infringement on their privileges. A prominent conflict arose with Bishop Niels Stigsen of in the 1240s, rooted in broader European struggles over control of church appointments and properties. Eric IV confiscated properties from the Roskilde bishopric, including lands in , escalating the dispute into a contest between royal and episcopal power. Archbishop Uffe Esgesen of also resisted royal encroachments, contributing to clerical resistance against the king's fiscal demands. In response to these frictions, dispatched a , Magister Johannes, to in 1245 to mediate between the king and the bishops. The negotiations aimed to resolve the taxation impasse, with threatened against non-compliant parties, underscoring papal concern over Danish church-state dynamics. Despite this intervention, Eric IV persisted in his demands, prioritizing royal revenue over ecclesiastical concessions. Instances of ecclesiastical support existed, as evidenced by collaborative foundations such as the Antvorskov Monastery, co-established by Eric IV alongside Archbishop Uffe and Bishop around 1237–1241, reflecting shared interests in religious patronage during his early co-regency. However, such cooperation waned amid ongoing power struggles, with the church aligning more with magnates opposing royal centralization. These relations highlight Eric IV's push for fiscal realism against entrenched clerical autonomy, though without yielding substantial institutional backing for his broader reforms.

Administrative and Economic Measures

During his reign, Eric IV oversaw a significant reform of Denmark's , shifting away from the traditional renovatio monetae—the practice of annually demonetizing and reissuing coins, which generated royal revenue but disrupted trade and —toward a framework emphasizing longer-lived silver coins. This transition, which began in during the 1230s under his co-regency and expanded to the Danish islands with attempts in by 1249, drew inspiration from England's post-1198 land tax innovations following I's ransom and aimed to align Denmark more closely with Western European economic practices by fostering reliable circulation. Key architects of this economic measure included the English cleric Nicholas of St. Albans and Chancellor , who collaborated to implement the changes, as evidenced in records like the Danish Census Book (ca. 1231–1240). These reforms sought to bolster royal fiscal capacity without sole reliance on periodic recoinage, though they coincided with broader tensions over revenue collection. Administrative efforts under Eric IV focused on centralizing royal oversight to enforce such policies, reflecting attempts to consolidate power amid feudal fragmentation, albeit with limited surviving documentation on judicial or bureaucratic restructuring beyond these fiscal adaptations.

Internal Conflicts

Civil Wars with Royal Brothers

Upon ascending to sole kingship in 1241 following the death of their father Valdemar II, Eric IV confronted immediate challenges from his brothers Abel, , and , Duke of Lolland, over the division of royal appanages and ducal . Abel sought to render Schleswig a hereditary independent of royal oversight, while supported these ambitions, aligning against Eric's efforts to centralize authority and fund military campaigns through taxation. These fraternal rivalries, rooted in succession ambiguities and territorial control, escalated into protracted civil strife that undermined Denmark's cohesion. The initial outbreak occurred in 1242, when Abel's demands for Schleswig's independence prompted open warfare; Eric mobilized forces to assert overlordship, culminating in a surprise assault on Abel's army at Schleswig that compelled Abel's family, including his daughter , to flee. The conflict endured for roughly three years, involving raids and sieges across , before a fragile truce was negotiated circa 1245, temporarily restoring nominal royal but leaving underlying grievances unresolved. Christopher's allegiance to Abel during this period amplified the threat, as the brothers coordinated to resist Eric's administrative impositions. Hostilities reignited by 1250, as Eric launched a punitive campaign into Abel's duchy, overrunning much of Schleswig and ; this forced Abel to sue for terms, leading to a at Gottorp on 10 1250. En route by boat across the inlet, Eric was ambushed and slain by assailants widely attributed to Abel's retainers, though Abel denied complicity and swore oaths of innocence before the church. Christopher's prior alignment with Abel facilitated the power vacuum, enabling Abel's brief usurpation before his own death in 1252 elevated Christopher to the throne. These internecine wars, documented in contemporary annals, exacerbated fiscal strains and regional fragmentation, presaging further dynastic turmoil.

Peasant Rebellions and Regional Unrest

In 1249, peasants in launched a against Eric IV's ploughpenny , a levy imposed per to fund campaigns and administrative needs, which was perceived as an onerous burden on agricultural output. The uprising forced the king to flee the region temporarily, underscoring the tax's unpopularity among rural communities reliant on subsistence farming. Eric IV mobilized forces from to suppress the revolt, restoring royal authority but at significant expense that outweighed the anticipated tax revenue. The rebellion's partial success resulted in exemptions for , where the tax was not effectively enforced thereafter, highlighting limits to centralized fiscal extraction in peripheral Danish territories. This unrest exacerbated regional tensions, as the church, Duke Abel of Schleswig, and counts of exploited the instability to challenge Eric's control, fostering broader discontent in southern and Holstein borders. Peasant grievances intertwined with noble opportunism, weakening the king's position amid ongoing disputes over land rights and ecclesiastical privileges in these areas.

Foreign Affairs

Relations with Neighboring Powers

Eric IV engaged in diplomatic maneuvering with the early in his sole reign. In 1240, following Pope Gregory IX's excommunication of Emperor Frederick II, the pontiff offered Eric support for a candidacy to the imperial throne, which the Danish king declined in favor of consolidating domestic authority. This overture reflected Denmark's lingering prestige in northern European politics despite Valdemar II's earlier setbacks, such as the 1227 defeat at Bornhöved that weakened claims over southern duchies. Tensions persisted along Denmark's southern frontier with imperial territories, particularly Holstein, where local counts resisted Danish overlordship. Eric launched incursions into Holstein to reassert influence, initiating conflicts tied to familial alliances; his brother Abel, Duke of Schleswig, had married Mechtild, daughter of Count Adolf IV of Holstein, complicating border control. These efforts culminated in 1250, when Eric diverted his returning Estonian expeditionary force to Holstein to forestall an anticipated siege of Hamburg by imperial forces, though the campaign ended abruptly with his assassination en route. Relations with Sweden under King Eric XI and Norway under Haakon IV remained largely non-hostile, marked by pragmatic neutrality amid Denmark's internal divisions rather than overt aggression or alliance-building. During the 1242–1244 civil strife with Abel, Eric entrusted his younger sons to regents in and for safekeeping, indicating trusted cross-border ties despite the absence of formal pacts or joint ventures. No recorded invasions or territorial disputes disrupted these Scandinavian interactions, allowing Eric to prioritize southern defenses and Baltic ventures.

Baltic and Northern Engagements

In 1249, Eric IV, holding the title Duke of Estonia as heir to his father's conquests during the , raised an army and sailed to the region to reinforce Danish authority over territories vulnerable to local revolts and encroachments by the . This Baltic expedition sought to stabilize holdings centered on Reval (modern ), acquired in 1219, amid papal grants of crusade indulgences that framed such actions as holy wars against remaining pagan elements. The campaign underscored 's ongoing commitment to Baltic expansion but yielded limited documented gains before Eric's return. Northern engagements focused on the volatile border with the County of , where Eric's brother Abel, , forged alliances with German nobility including Counts John I and Gerhard I of Holstein-Kiel, threatening royal supremacy through raids into as far as and . A mediated truce in 1247, brokered by their sister Sophia, temporarily restored Eric's sole rule, but escalating ducal ambitions prompted his 1250 military incursion into to reclaim contested fortresses like and curb foreign-backed fragmentation of the duchy. These actions intertwined civil strife with broader Germanic-Baltic dynamics, as Holstein's counts leveraged ties to Hanseatic cities like to challenge Danish coastal influence. Diplomatic overtures complemented military efforts, with Eric leveraging familial connections—such as his sister Sophia's marriage to Valdemar Birgersson, King of , in 1245—to foster stability against potential Scandinavian rivals, though no major conflicts erupted with or during his reign. Overall, these engagements reflected constrained foreign ambitions amid pervasive internal divisions, prioritizing border defense over aggressive expansion.

Death and Succession

The Assassination Event

On 10 August 1250, Eric IV was assassinated during his journey through the , following a fragile truce with his brother Abel concluded in 1249–1250 that had permitted him to enter the region without a large escort. Believing himself secure, Eric halted at Möweninsel island in the firth of , where he was engaged in a game of chess when assailants seized him as a . The captors then transported Eric to a boat positioned midstream in the , where he made confession to a and bestowed upon him his royal robe and belt as a final act. He was subsequently decapitated, and his body was cast into the with a strapped to his right arm to ensure it sank. Fishermen recovered the remains the following day, initially conveying them to the Dominican church in Schleswig before their translation to the city's for burial. This violent end marked the abrupt termination of Eric's reign amid ongoing familial and regional tensions.

Attribution of Responsibility and Theories

The assassination of Eric IV on 10 August 1250 was swiftly attributed by his supporters and contemporary observers to his , Abel, , amid ongoing fraternal rivalries that had escalated into open conflict during Eric's reign. Historical chronicles and accounts from the period, including those reflecting the views of Eric's partisans, emphasized Abel's motive—resentment over Eric's policies, including taxation disputes and the division of royal authority among the Valdemarsson brothers—as well as the proximity of the attack site near Schleswig, Abel's ducal lands. Abel vehemently denied any role, proclaiming his innocence upon ascending the throne shortly after the and securing formal through the solemn oaths of 24 nobles, a procedural safeguard common in medieval Scandinavian disputes to affirm and truthfulness. This attestation, while legally sufficient at the time to legitimize his kingship, was viewed skeptically by Eric's allies, who saw it as self-serving amid Abel's rapid consolidation of power. No eyewitness testimonies or confessions directly implicating Abel have survived in primary sources, leaving the attribution reliant on circumstantial factors: the assailants' organized of Eric's small traveling party, the severing of his head (a deliberate humiliation), and Abel's immediate benefit as . Theories beyond Abel's direct involvement remain sparse and unsubstantiated in historical records, with no credible evidence pointing to alternative perpetrators such as disaffected peasants, foes, or foreign agents, despite Eric's conflicts with the Church over tithes. Abel's own violent death in battle against the on 6 November 1252 was interpreted by many contemporaries, including monastic chroniclers, as for , reinforcing the prevailing narrative of his guilt without introducing contradictory interpretations. Modern assessments, drawing on the paucity of forensic or documentary proof, uphold the traditional suspicion of Abel or his retainers as the most plausible explanation, grounded in the era's patterns of dynastic violence where brothers vied for supremacy through elimination.

Family and Descendants

Marriage to Jutta of Saxony

Eric IV married Jutta of Saxony, daughter of (c. 1175–1260) and Agnes of Austria, on November 17, 1239. At the time of the wedding, Eric held the position of junior king, having been designated co-ruler alongside his father, Valdemar II, and brothers since 1232, though he did not assume sole rule until 1241 following Valdemar's death. Jutta, born around 1223, thus became junior , a status reflecting the Danish practice of shared kingship without a corresponding senior queen, as Valdemar II's consort Dagmar had died in 1212 and his second wife Berengaria in 1240 shortly before Valdemar's own death. The marriage served to forge ties between the Danish crown and the Welf dynasty in , a prominent house within the , potentially bolstering Eric's position amid internal divisions among the royal brothers and external pressures from Germanic principalities. Historical records indicate no surviving details on the ceremony's location or precise diplomatic negotiations, but such unions were typically arranged by the senior king—Valdemar II in this case—to secure alliances against rivals like the Counts of and to counterbalance the influence of Eric's brothers Abel and . Jutta's and the alliance's strategic value are not quantified in primary sources, though the match aligned with broader 13th-century patterns of intermarrying with to stabilize northern European borders. Jutta outlived Eric, who was assassinated in 1250, and died before February 2, 1267, having reportedly faced hardships including the loss of her sons and possible remarriage considerations, though no union occurred. The marriage produced six children, but its dynastic success was limited by the early deaths of the male heirs, exacerbating succession crises.

Children and Dynastic Issue

Eric IV and Jutta of Saxony had at least six children, including two sons who died in infancy or childhood and four daughters who reached adulthood. The sons were Canute (born and died circa 1242–1243) and possibly Christopher (died young). The daughters were:
NameLifespanNotes
Sophiac. 1241–1286Married c. 1260 Valdemar, King of Sweden (r. 1250–1275); had six children, including Magnus (co-king of Sweden) and Erik (Duke of Sweden).
Ingeborgc. 1245–1287Married 1261 Magnus VI, King of Norway (r. 1263–1280); had issue, including Erik II Magnusson, King of Norway.
Juttad. after 1286Became abbess of St. Agneta's Priory in Roskilde.
Agnesd. after 1286Became abbess, possibly at a convent in Denmark.
The extinction of Eric IV's male line upon his death in 1250—due to the early deaths of his sons—precluded direct patrilineal succession, passing the throne instead to his younger brother Abel under elective traditions of the Danish monarchy. While the daughters' marriages strengthened ties to and , they did not produce immediate claimants to the Danish crown, as succession favored male agnates from the . The absence of surviving sons contributed to ongoing fraternal rivalries and instability in the dynasty's transition.

Legacy and Historical Assessment

Immediate Aftermath and Dynastic Impact

Following Eric IV's assassination on 10 August 1250, his brother Abel, , was widely suspected of orchestrating the murder but cleared himself through the solemn testimony of 24 knights and was subsequently elected king by the Danish council of nobles. Abel's brief reign (1250–1252) was marked by efforts to stabilize the realm, including granting duchies in to Eric IV's young sons—primarily the infant Eric (later Eric V)—to avert immediate civil war and secure recognition of his rule. However, Abel's death in June 1252 during a campaign against Frisian rebels triggered further succession disputes, as his own son Valdemar III sought claims but faced opposition from their surviving brother, Christopher I, who ascended as king (1252–1259). The rapid turnover—three kings from the same fratricidal family within nine years—exacerbated dynastic instability, culminating in civil conflicts that persisted into the 1260s and weakened central authority. Christopher I actively blamed Abel for the and pursued Eric IV's by the Church, reinterring his brother's remains at Abbey in 1258 to bolster legitimacy and potentially bar Abel's descendants from future claims, though the effort failed during Christopher's lifetime. Lacking male heirs, Christopher's death in 1259 paved the way for Eric IV's son, Eric V Klipping, to succeed at age ten under regency, restoring the direct line of Eric IV while sidelining Abel's branch and highlighting the precariousness of amid noble factionalism. This interlude of fraternal rivalry underscored vulnerabilities in the Estridsen dynasty, contributing to fragmented loyalties that undermined Denmark's cohesion for decades.

Long-Term Evaluations and Sainthood Cult

In historical scholarship, Eric IV's reign (1241–1250) is evaluated as a period of escalating internal divisions, marked by with his brothers and fiscal impositions like the ploughpenny on agricultural equipment, which intensified peasant grievances and social tensions leading to his on August 10, 1250. His death exacerbated dynastic fragmentation, signaling the onset of prolonged instability in Danish royal succession amid ongoing familial and regional power struggles. A local venerating as a martyr-king emerged shortly after his murder, initially centered in Slesvig around his temporary burial sites, where early devotion likely arose from perceptions of his violent death at the hands of presumed traitors. His surviving brother, King I, actively fostered the cult to bolster legitimacy following Abel's brief and ill-fated rule (1250–1252), reinterring Eric's remains with ceremony at Monastery on September 27, 1258, and petitioning the papacy—unsuccessfully—for formal recognition. Benedictine monks at Ringsted compiled De miraculis Sancti Erici Regis Danorum, recording 46 miracles from 1258 to 1274, with an additional four documented later, totaling 50 intercessions up to 1309; these primarily involved healings, protections from peril, and resurrections, often attested by witnesses and dated precisely, half occurring at the monastery itself and others in regions like Sweden (10 cases), Norway (4), and Skåne (6). No independent hagiographical vita or passio survives, though Danish chronicles portray his end in martyr-like terms, drawing on biblical parallels to royal suffering. The cult's momentum waned after Christopher's death in 1259, lacking sustained elite patronage or papal endorsement, and was eventually eclipsed by entrenched devotions to earlier Danish royal saints like , whose shrine at drew greater regional and ecclesiastical support. By the late medieval period, Eric's veneration persisted only marginally in local traditions, without achieving broader liturgical integration or enduring institutional status.

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  17. https://en.onul.works/w/Eric_IV_of_Denmark
  18. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ehr.12283
  19. https://brill.com/display/book/9789004358355/B9789004358355_009.pdf
  20. https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/tag/valdemar-ii-of-denmark/
  21. https://www.roskildehistorie.dk/oversigter/embeder/bisper/katolske/Stigsen/Niels_Stigsen.htm
  22. https://tidsskrift.dk/historiejyskesamling/article/view/38482
  23. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/abel-king-of-denmark/
  24. https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/2023/08/10/august-10-1250-the-assassination-of-king-eric-iv-of-denmark/
  25. http://www.lysator.liu.se/nordic/scn/faq763.html
  26. https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/gdc/gdcebookspublic/20/21/75/83/99/2021758399/2021758399.pdf
  27. https://brill.com/display/book/9789004407671/BP000010.xml
  28. http://olypen.com/zob/genealogy/Europe-tree/Denmark/Biography.html
  29. https://twentytrees.co.uk/History/Scandinavia/Person/King-Eric-IV-of-Denmark-1216-1250.html?Ajpo8zBq
  30. https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jutta-saxony-d-around-1267
  31. https://san.beck.org/7-5-Scandinavia.html
  32. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/christopher-i-king-of-denmark/
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