Valdemar of Denmark (bishop)

Valdemar Knudsen (also ''Waldemar'', born in 1158; died 18 July 1236 in Cîteaux) was a Danish clergyman and statesman. Valdemar was Bishop of Schleswig from 1188 to 1208, officiated as Steward of the Duchy of Schleswig between 1184 and 1187, and served as Prince-Archbishop of Bremen from 1192 to 1194 and again between 1206 and 1217. He held the latter office on the grounds of the archdiocesan capitular election as archbishop elect and of the royal investiture with the princely regalia, but lacked the papal confirmation.

His mother, likely the wife of another man, gave birth to him as the posthumous illegitimate son of King Canute V of Denmark in early 1158.Hans Olrik
"Valdemar (Knudsen), 1158-1236, Biskop af Slesvig"
in: '' Dansk biografisk leksikon'': 19 vols., Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1887–1905, vol. XVIII: Ubbe - Wimpffen (1904), pp. 193–197, here p. 193. His father Canute V had been slain on 9 August 1157 by the co-regent Sweyn III. So Valdemar, like his half-brother, Saint Niels of Århus, claimed succession to the Danish throne.

Valdemar grew up at the court of his cousin, King Valdemar I of Denmark, ''the Great''. Still in his youth his great ambitions and abilities crystallised, so that he was determined for the holy orders. Valdemar studied in Paris and Abbot Stephanus of the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève noted that the Danish prince was mature and dignified like a bishop despite his youth, humble despite his noble descent, and spoke like a Frenchman despite his Danish tongue. After his studies his cousin promoted Valdemar's provision for the See in Sleswick ( da, link=no, Slesvig, german: link=no, Schleswig) in 1179, although still too young to be consecrated bishop as successor of the late Frederick I.

As bishop of Schleswig and steward of the Duchy of Schleswig

In memory of his late brother Niels he founded memorial endowments at the Abbeys of Ås (by 1192) and Vä (1182). From 1184 on Valdemar officiated as steward of the Duchy of Schleswig for Valdemar ''the Great's'' minor son Duke Valdemar (later King Valdemar II of Denmark). In 1187 King Canute VI Valdemarsen endowed the diocese of Schleswig with far reaching privileges.Hans Olrik
"Valdemar (Knudsen), 1158-1236, Biskop af Slesvig"
in: '' Dansk biografisk leksikon'': 19 vols., Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1887–1905, vol. XVIII: Ubbe - Wimpffen (1904), pp. 193–197, here p. 194. At Christmas 1187 Duke Valdemar took over the Duchy of Schleswig and soon later Valdemar Knudsen was consecrated bishop probably in the Cathedral of St. Peter's. After consecration in 1188 Bishop Valdemar levied the tithe, supported by his metropolitan Absalon, since before the tithes had hardly ever been levied in Danish dioceses.

In 1187 and 1188 Hartwig of Uthlede, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, and his troops invaded the trans- Elbian free peasants republic of Ditmarsh, ecclesiastically belonging to the Archdiocese of Bremen, in order to subject Ditmarsh also to his secular princely overlordship. The free peasants promised to pay him dues, only to mock about him, once he and his soldiers had left.Adolf Hofmeister, "Der Kampf um das Erbe des Stader Grafen zwischen den Welfen und der Bremer Kirche (1144–1236)", in: ''Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser'': 3 vols., Hans-Eckhard Dannenberg and Heinz-Joachim Schulze (eds.) on behalf of the Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, 1995 and 2008, vol. I 'Vor- und Frühgeschichte' (1995; ), vol. II 'Mittelalter (einschl. Kunstgeschichte)' (1995; ), vol. III 'Neuzeit' (2008; ), (=Schriftenreihe des Landschaftsverbandes der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden; vols. 7–9), vol. II: pp. 105–157, here p. 118. The Ditmarsians gained support by steward Valdemar, so that Hartwig could not dare another costly invasion. Bishop Valdemar and Duke Valdemar came into conflict with each other on Ditmarsh. Duke Valdemar curtailed diocesan estates of Schleswig and personal possessions of Bishop Valdemar. Cardinal legate Cinthius of San Lorenzo in Luscina failed to mediate in this dispute.

Bishop Valdemar learned about the abbot, monks, and nuns at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Michael's in the town of Schleswig, who had fallen into immoral behavior and had earned a reputation for drunkenness. Valdemar decided that the best way to reform the monks was to move them from the temptations in town, and establish a new convent, built in 1191, far enough away that the monks wouldn't cause more trouble. In 1192 the monks apparently were moved unwillingly to Güldenholm to begin the work on a new monastery. At some point, Güldenholm Abbey became Cistercian, with the monks working in the fields to earn their daily bread and meat. By 1193 Valdemar endowed Løgum Abbey with the tithe of Bjolderup (near Tinglev).

In 1190 Emperor Henry VI revoked Hartwig's princely regalia empowering his rule in the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, for his partisanship with the House of Welf. The Pope, however, did not depose Hartwig as archbishop, who fled first with the Guelphs to England and then to Lüneburg. In 1192 Duke Valdemar, then 22 years old, seriously disagreed about Bishop Valdemar's way of leading the diocese. In the same year the Bremian Chapter didn't wait any longer for a papal dismissal of Hartwig and unauthorisedly elected Valdemar as its new Prince-Archbishop,Adolf Hofmeister, "Der Kampf um das Erbe des Stader Grafen zwischen den Welfen und der Bremer Kirche (1144–1236)", in: ''Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser'': 3 vols., Hans-Eckhard Dannenberg and Heinz-Joachim Schulze (eds.) on behalf of the Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, 1995 and 2008, vol. I 'Vor- und Frühgeschichte' (1995; ), vol. II 'Mittelalter (einschl. Kunstgeschichte)' (1995; ), vol. III 'Neuzeit' (2008; ), (=Schriftenreihe des Landschaftsverbandes der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden; vols. 7–9), vol. II: pp. 105–157, here p. 119. encouraged by Henry VI. Valdemar welcomed his election, hoping his new position could be helpful in his dispute with Duke Valdemar and his elder brother Canute VI., here p. 118. Before entering the Prince-Archbishopric he won the support of Ditmarsh. Moreover, the bishop conspired with Adolphus III of Holstein, perhaps also with his brothers-in-law Jaromar I of Rugia and Casimir II of Pomerania, and with Canute I of Sweden and Sverre of Norway. The Bremian mint in the city of Bremen issued coins showing Valdemar's portrait.

Valdemar as Bremen's archbishop elect in Danish captivity (1193–1206)

Duke Valdemar realised the threat Prince-Archbishop Valdemar presented. In 1192 he invited the Prince-Archbishop to meet him in Åbenrå. Then the bishop fled to Swedish Norway to avoid an arrest. The following year he organised – supported by the Hohenstaufens – a fleet of 35 ships manned with Norwegian or Swedish mercenaries and harried the coasts of Denmark with an eye to overthrowing King Canute VI, claiming the Danish throne for himself, while Adolphus III crossed the Eider invading the duchy of Schleswig. On 8 July 1192 Canute VI captured Bishop Valdemar, before he could ever enter the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen.Hans Olrik
"Valdemar (Knudsen), 1158-1236, Biskop af Slesvig"
in: '' Dansk biografisk leksikon'': 19 vols., Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1887–1905, vol. XVIII: Ubbe - Wimpffen (1904), pp. 193–197, here pp. 194seq.

Despite the interventions by Pope Celestine III Bishop Valdemar stayed in captivity in Nordborg

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases