Margaret I of Denmark
Margaret I | |
---|---|
Queen consort of Sweden | |
Tenure | 9 April 1363 – 15 February 1364 |
Born | March 1353[1] Søborg Castle, Denmark |
Died | 28 October 1412 (aged 59)[2] Ship in the harbor of Flensburg, Schleswig, Denmark |
Burial | , Zealand, Denmark |
Spouse | |
Issue | Olaf II of Denmark |
House | Estridsen |
Father | Valdemar IV of Denmark |
Mother | Helvig of Schleswig |
Margaret I (
The youngest daughter of
Some Norwegian and Swedish historians have criticized Margaret for favouring Denmark and being too autocratic, though she is generally thought to have been highly regarded in Norway and respected in Denmark and Sweden. She was painted in a negative light in contemporary religious chronicles, as she had no qualms suppressing the Church to promote royal power.[19][20][21] Margaret is known in Denmark as Margrethe I to distinguish her from her successor Margrethe II.[22]
Early years and marriage
Margaret was born in March 1353 as the sixth and youngest child of King
This did not result in the withdrawal of Valdemar from Scania;
The marriage of Haakon and Margaret was an alliance, and Margaret likely remained in Denmark for some time after the wedding,[27] but ultimately was taken to Akershus in Oslo Fjord where she was raised by Merete Ulvsdatter.[28] Merete Ulvsdatter was a distinguished noblewoman and daughter of Bridget of Sweden, as well as the wife of Knut Algotsson, who was one of King Magnus's faithful followers.[28] Margaret was brought up with Merete's daughter Ingegerd,[28] who likely instructed her in matters of religion and monarchy.[28] Merete's daughters, Ingegerd and Catherine, became her closest female friends, with Margaret later showing favoritism to Ingegerd, who became an abbess, as well as her monastery. It is also likely, though, that her promotion of the Bridgettines was also out of piety and political interest to help the process of integration.[29][30] Her academic studies were probably limited, but it is assumed that in addition to reading and writing she also was instructed in statecraft.[28] She displayed an early talent for ruling and appears to have held real power.[31]
In the years after Margaret's wedding Scandinavia saw a series of major political upheavals. A few months after her wedding, her only brother, Christopher, Duke of Lolland, died, leaving her father without an obvious male heir.[32] In 1364 the Swedish nobles deposed Margaret's husband and father-in-law from the Swedish throne and elected Albert of Mecklenburg as king of Sweden.[28]
Regency
Her first act after her father's death in 1375 was to procure the election of her infant son
At a conference held at Dalaborg Castle in March 1388, the Swedes were compelled to accept all of Margaret's conditions, elected her "Sovereign Lady and Ruler", and committed themselves to accept any king she chose to appoint. Albert, who had called her "King Pantsless" returned from Mecklenburg with an army of mercenaries. On 24 February 1389, the decisive battle took place at either Aasle or Falan near Falköping. General Henrik Parow, the Mecklenburger commander of Margaret's forces, was killed in battle, but he managed to win it for her.[33] Margaret was now the omnipotent mistress of three kingdoms.[15]
Stockholm, then almost entirely a German city, still held out. Fear of Margaret induced both the Mecklenburg princes and the Wendish towns to hasten to its assistance; and the Baltic and the North Sea speedily swarmed with the privateers of the Victual Brothers. The Hanseatic League intervened, and under the Compact of Lindholm (1395), Margaret released Albert on his promise to pay 60,000 marks within three years. Meanwhile, the Hansa were to hold Stockholm as surety. Albert failed to pay his ransom within the stipulated time, and the Hansa surrendered Stockholm to Margaret in September 1398 in exchange for commercial privileges.
Eric of Pomerania
It had been understood that Margaret should, at the first convenient opportunity, provide the three kingdoms with a king who was to be a kinsman of all the three old dynasties, although in Norway it was specified that she would continue ruling alongside the new king, while in Sweden, the nobles assured Margaret that they were content to do without a king throughout her lifetime, which they hoped would be long.
Union of Kalmar
On 20 July, Margaret capitalized on the general rejoicing by publishing the famous Treaty of Kalmar, "a masterly document that sealed the union of Norway, Sweden and Denmark".[34] The date she chose was no coincidence - it was the Feast Day of St. Margaret of Antioch, who like the Lady King herself, was cast off by her father and thrown into prison.[35] The Treaty proposed “everlasting union”, which reflected her dearest ambition, that “all three realms should exist together in harmony and love, and whatever befalleth one, war and rumors of war, or the onslaught of foreigners, that shall be for all three, and each kingdom shall help the others in all fealty ...and hereafter the Nordic realms shall have one king, and not several". [35][36]
Well aware of regional pride and prejudice, Margaret played a careful strategy, assuring her subjects that each state would be governed according to the laws and customs of each, no new laws would be introduced without the consent of the subjects, officials from governors to soldiers would be recruited from the native populations, thus showing her subjects that they would enjoy every benefit of union without any threat to national identity.
A few years after the Kalmar Union, the 18-year-old Eric was declared of age and homage was rendered to him in all his three kingdoms, although Margaret was the effective ruler of Scandinavia throughout her lifetime.[36]
Kalmar Union and royal policy
So long as the union was insecure, Margaret had tolerated the presence of the Riksråd, but their influence was minor and the Royal authority remained supreme. The offices of High Constable and Earl Marshal were left vacant; the Danehof fell into ruin, and "the great Queen, an ideal despot",[38] ruled through her court officials, who served as a superior kind of clerk. In any event, law and order were well maintained and the licence of the nobility was sternly repressed. The kingdoms of Sweden and Norway were treated as integral parts of the Danish State, and national aspirations were frowned upon or checked, though Norway, being more loyal, was treated more indulgently than Sweden.
In 1396, according to Grethe Jacobsen, she issued an ordinance that one should to a higher degree than hitherto respect and enforce peace towards church (pax dei), houses, farms, legal assemblies, workers in the fields – and women, expressed in the word “kvindefred”. Jacobsen believes that as punishment for rape was normally not associated with the other forms for upholding peace in the tradition of pax dei, this may be an expression of Margrete's perception of women as being particularly vulnerable in times of unrest, and for her own interpretation of the ruler as protector of personae miserabiles, which included maidens and widows. Another testament was her dispositions of 1411 through which she distributed the sum of 500 marcs among the women who had been ‘violated and debased’ during the wars between Sweden and Denmark 1388–1389.[39]
Margaret recovered for the Crown all the landed property that had been alienated in the troubled times before the reign of Valdemar IV. This so-called reduktion, or land-recovery, was carried out with the utmost rigour, and hundreds of estates fell into the hands of the crown. She also reformed the Danish currency, substituting good silver coins for the old and worthless copper tokens, to the great advantage both of herself and of the state. She always had large sums of money at her disposal, and much of it was given to charity.
According to Thomas Kingston Derry, Margaret tried to provide the union with a sound economic basis. In the process, each of her measures (recovery of crown lands from nobility and the church, new taxes and new coins) hurt the interests of powerful classes, but she prevented them from having leadership by making little use of separate councils of her three kingdoms, relying on a body of civil and ecclesiastical officials she chose with great skills instead. She placed Danes in Swedish and Norwegian bishoprics, while royal estates and castles were managed by castellans and bailiffs of foreign extraction. While this has been criticized as promoting Danes at the expense of Swedish and Norwegian people, Derry opines that considering she employed more Germans in her native Denmark than elsewhere, she was mainly interested in securing a loyal and efficient administration. [40]
She travelled much, in her later years is said to have spent more time in Sweden than in Denmark. She encouraged intermarriages among the nobility of three realms. Her piety is well-known, and she gave strong backing to the canonisation of St.Brigitta, helped to make Vadstena into a strong cultural centre and encouraged the spread of "Brigittine language", which led to many Swedish expressions coming into use among Danes and Norwegians. [6]
In contrast with the foreign policy of her venturesome father, Margaret's was circumspect and unswervingly neutral in the bloody war between France and England as well as other European conflicts.[7] However, she spared no pains to recover lost Danish territory. She purchased the island of Gotland from its actual possessors, Albert of Mecklenburg and the Livonian Order, and the greater part of Schleswig was regained in the same way.
In 1402 Margaret entered into negotiations with King
Death
In 1412, Margaret tried to recover
In October 1412, she set sail from Seeland in her ship. She attended several debates, which reportedly had brought matters to a state of promising forwardness. On retiring to her vessel though, with the intention of leaving the port, "she was seized with sudden and violent illness." Margaret apparently foresaw the end of her life, as she ordered thirty seven marks to be paid to the nearby monastery of Campen for a perpetual mass for her soul. Beyond this, there is no discussion in the historical record regarding her demise. She died on the night of 28 October 1412, the vigil of
Her
Appearance and personality
She has been described as a beautiful woman with dark hair, dark eyes, an intimidating gaze and the aura of absolute authority.[47] She was highly energetic well into her old age, autocratic and indomitable,[48] at the same time also described as wise, just, tactful, and kind.[49][47] Hudson Strode writes "Margaret, who, like St. Bridget, possessed the masculine quality of indomitability, was undoubtedly the strongest. No male public official ever worked harder at his job. She used her constructive ability, her diplomacy, and her force of will to make the Union a success and to maintain the royal prerogative."[50]
Ambiguities concerning titles
In Denmark Margaret was called "sovereign lady and lord and guardian of the entire kingdom of Denmark" (Norway and Sweden later bestowed on her similar titles). This special, double-gendered title bestowed upon the holder the power and authority of a man (lord), of a woman (sovereign lady) and of the gender-neutral guardian. Later, when Erik was elected King of Norway in 1392, she renounced this title in Norway, and in 1396, when he was crowned as King of Denmark and Sweden, she stopped the use of this title altogether, although she continued as Regent.[51]
She only styled herself Queen of Denmark in 1375, usually referring to herself as "Margaret, by the grace of God, daughter of Valdemar King of Denmark" and "Denmark's rightful heir" when referring to her position in Denmark. Her title in Denmark was derived from her father King
When she married
Reputation and legacy
E.C. Otte writes in 1874, that "[i]f Margaret could have been certain of being followed on the throne by rulers as able and just as she had been, this Act of the Union of Calmar might have worked for the good of the three kingdoms. For it was quite true, as the Queen said, that each one alone was a poor weak state, open to danger from every side, but that the three united would make a monarchy, strong enough to defy the attacks and schemes of the Hanse traders and all foes from the side of Germany, and would keep the Baltic clear of danger from foreigners. However no ruler came after Queen Margaret equal to her, as there had been none before her to be compared to her."[54]
According to Imsen, her political genius has never been contested, but her motives have always been the target of much debate. During the first half of the nineteenth century, she was usually depicted as an idealist who fought to counterbalance the German influence. After the defeat of Denmark by the Prussians in 1864, the image of Margaret the nationalist prevailed. Later she was increasingly regarded as a Machiavellist who primarily fought for her power and dynastic interests.[55]
In Sweden, such a republican (opposed to monarchy) as Vilhelm Moberg lauded Margaret as adverse to warfare and called her the greatest monarch the Nordic countries ever had.[56] Professor Kjell Kumlien wrote in 1949 that
She made reality of political plans and aspirations which had previously been tried without nearly as much success by both Swedish and Danish kings. The reason why she succeeded must be sought in no small part in her own eminent political talent, distinguished by strength and endurance as well as flexible and winning negotiating skill. In an uncanny way, her person and deeds are united in the deeply felt communality of the Nordic kingdoms ...[57]
In The Middle Ages: Dictionary of World Biography, Volume 2, McFadden opines that "Margaret 's achievement at a time when all Scandinavia was being threatened by German cultural and economic domination was to unite the kingdoms and not only hold back the Germans but also regain lands lost to the south. At the time of her death, the Scandinavian Union was by far the most powerful force in the Baltic; it was also the second largest accumulation of European territory under a single sovereign."[58]
Family tree
Valdemar IV of Denmark | Helvig of Schleswig | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ingeborg of Denmark | Margaret I of Denmark | Haakon VI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Maria of Mecklenburg | Olaf II of Denmark | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Catherine of Pomerania | Eric VII of Denmark | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sources
Citations
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- ^ Jacobsen, p. 1.
- ISBN 9781137303929.
- ^ a b Derry 2000, p. 74.
- ^ a b c d Magill 2012, p. 627.
- ISBN 978-91-978681-1-2p.202
- ^ Goodrich, Samuel Griswold (1852). The Second Book of History: Including the Modern History of Europe, Africa, and Asia ... : Designed as a Sequel to the First Book of History. Jenks, Hickling & Swan. p. 154.
- ISBN 9780881623642.
- ^ White 2010, pp. 1, 39.
- ^ Derry 2000, pp. 72.
- ISBN 9781568362533.
- ^ Gjerset, Knut (1915). History of the Norwegian People. Two Volumes. Vol.II. The MacMillan Company. p. 35.
- ^ a b c d Bain 1911, p. 702.
- ISBN 9781615300105.
- ^ Derry 2000, p. 71.
- ^ Derry 2000.
- ^ Otte 1874, pp. 183–184.
- ISBN 9781400875795.
- ^ Magill 2012, p. 628.
- ISSN 0024-3019.
- ^ a b c d Etting 2009, p. 12.
- ISBN 9781596053434.
- ^ a b c d e f Etting 2009, p. 13.
- ^ a b c d e Etting 2009, p. 15.
- ^ a b c Etting 2009, p. 16.
- ^ a b c d e f Etting 2009, p. 17.
- ISBN 9780851158815.
- ^ Higgins, Sophia Elizabeth (1885). Women of Europe in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, Volume 1. Hurst and Blackett. p. 8.
- ISBN 9781622751273.
- ^ Etting 2009, p. 19.
- ISBN 9780809314898.
- ^ a b White 2010, p. 56.
- ^ a b White 2010, p. 57.
- ^ a b The King Who Became a Pirate, Story by Anja Klemp Vilgaard · Illustrations by Darya Malikova · Edited by Shawna Kenney · April 20, 2020, narratively.com.
- ^ White 2010, pp. 57–58.
- ^ Yust, Walter; University of Chicago (1950). Encyclopædia Britannica: A New Survey of Universal Knowledge, Volume 14. Encyclopædia Britannica. p. 876.
- ^ Jacobsen, pp. 9–10.
- ^ Derry 2000, pp. 73–74.
- ISBN 9780804786294.
- ^ Derry 2000, p. 73.
- ^ Wakefield, Andrew. "Queen Margaret of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (1353–1412). 2005". Prof. Pavlac's Women's History Resource Site. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- ^ Smollett, Tobias George (1762). The Critical Review, Or, Annals of Literature, Volume 12. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall. p. 170.
- ^ White 2010, p. 210.
- ^ Higgins, Sophia Elizabeth (1885). Women of Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Volume 1. Oxford University: Hurst and Blackett. p. 69.
The event gave rise to many conjectures..
- ^ a b White 2010, p. 40.
- ^ Williams, Henry Smith (1907). The Historians' History of the World: A Comprehensive Narrative of the Rise and Development of Nations as Recorded by Over Two Thousand of the Great Writers of All Ages, Volume 6. Hooper & Jackson, Limited.
- ISBN 9781451647631.
- ^ Strode, Hudson (1949). Sweden: Model for a World. Harcourt, Brace. p. 130.
- ^ Jacobsen, pp. 7–9.
- ^ Lange, Christian Christoph Andreas; Unger, Carl Rikard; Huitfeldt-Kaas, Henrik Jørgen; Storm, Gustav; Bugge, Alexander; Brinchmann, Christopher; Kolsrud, Nils Oluf (1861). Diplomatarium Norvegicum, Volume 5. P.T. Malling. p. 251.
- ISBN 3-222-12467-1.
- ^ Otte 1874, p. 180.
- ISBN 9780415969444.
- ^ 2023 book by Erik Petersson p. 274
- ^ 2023 book by Erik Petersson p. 322
- ^ Magill 2012, p. 62.
Bibliography
- Bain, Robert Nisbet (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 702.
- Etting, Vivian (2004). Queen Margrete I (1353–1412) and the Founding of the Nordic Union. Brill. ISBN 978-9047404798.
- Etting, Vivian (2009), Margrete den første, Nordisk Forlag A/S, ISBN 978-8702071771.
- Magill, Frank N. (2012), The Middle Ages: Dictionary of World Biography, volume 2, Routledge, ISBN 978-1136593130.
- Jacobsen, Grethe, Less Favored – More Favored: Queenship and the Special Case of Margrete of Denmark, 1353–1412 (PDF).
- Otte, E.C. (1874), Scandinavian History.
- White, Richard (2010), These Stones Bear Witness, AuthorHouse, ]
- Derry, Thomas Kingston (2000), A History of Scandinavia, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, ISBN 978-0816637997.
Further reading
- Lindkvist, Thomas. Margaret I of Denmark at Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon
External links
- New International Encyclopedia(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead..