Harald Hen ( Danish for "Harald the Whetstone"; – 17 April 1080) was

King of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark was alre ...

from 1076 to 1080. Harald III was an illegitimate son of Danish king Sweyn II Estridsson, and contested the crown with some of his brothers. He was a peaceful ruler who initiated a number of reforms. Harald was married to his cousin

Margareta Hasbjörnsdatter Margareta Hasbjörnsdatter or ''Margareta Asbjørnsdatter'' (11th century) was Queen consort of Denmark as the spouse of King Harald III. Margareta was the daughter of jarl Asbjörn Ulfsen, possibly an uncle of her spouse; she would thereby have ...

, but did not leave any heirs, and was succeeded by his brother Canute IV the Saint. Four of his half-brothers were in turn crowned Danish kings.

Biography

Harald was born around 1040.Stefan Pajung
Harald Hén ca. 1040–1080
danmarkshistorien.dk,

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

, 22 January 2010 Son of King Sweyn II, Harald took part in Sweyn's 1069 raid of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

alongside his uncle Jarl Asbjørn and his brother

Canute Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway ...

. Bricka, Carl Frederik, ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. VII . Hansen – Holmsted 1893
p.74
After the death of his father in 1076, Harald was elected king in competition with his younger brother, Canute, at an assembly at Isøre near Odsherred.Harald 3. Hen
at Gyldendals Åbne Encyklopædi In order to get elected, he took the vows called ''Harald's laws'', declaring his will to uphold the existing rule of law. During his rule, Harald met opposition from a number of his brothers, likely including Canute, who enlisted the support of Olaf III of Norway.

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII ( la, Gregorius VII; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana ( it, Ildebrando di Soana), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint ...

mediated, advising Olaf not to take sides, and for Harald to share power with his brothers. Harald was dependent on the great nobles of Denmark for his election, and did little to oppose them. As a result, he fought no major wars and spent his energy improving the few things that lay in his purview. He is best known for improving and standardizing Danish

coinage Coinage may refer to: * Coins, standardized as currency * Neologism, coinage of a new word * '' COINage'', numismatics magazine * Tin coinage, a tax on refined tin * Protologism ''Protologism'' is a term coined in 2003 by the American literary ...

, and established mints at

Ribe Ribe () is a town in south-west Jutland, Denmark, with a population of 8,257 (2022). It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe covering southwestern Jutland. Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding municipality and county. It ...

, Viborg,

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish province of Scania, across the Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Scania County. The Öre ...

, and

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

. He instituted public use of the Royal forests. Harald also sought to change Danish legal customs. Harald deplored the ancient customs of

trial by combat Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...

and the ''jernbyrd''

trial by ordeal Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience. In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, t ...

of holding red-hot iron bars, and introduced a system used by the English of calling upon honorable men to swear

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to g ...

s on behalf of the parties in a trial. He allegedly continued Sweyn's policy of requesting the Pope to grant a Danish

Archbishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

, but was not successful. Harald died on 17 April 1080, and was interred at Dalby Church in

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

. He was succeeded as king by his brother, Canute IV.

Legacy

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...

scorned Harald as a weak and ineffective king yielding to the will of the common people, while Ælnoth called him a "by the people beloved lawmaker". He is also described as a man who let others control his actions, possessing a mild temper. Perhaps this gives the explanation for his nickname Harald the Whetstone (Danish: Harald Hen or Hein), in other words, Harald the Soft. The legal reforms of Harald were not fully accepted until the reign of Valdemar II the Victorious in the 13th century.

Arild Huitfeldt Arild Huitfeldt (Arvid) (11 September 1546 – 16 December 1609) was a Danish historian and state official, known for his vernacular Chronicle of Denmark. Life Huitfeldt was born into an aristocratic family from Scania, part of the Kingdom of D ...

, Denmark Riges Krønike The historicity of his coinage reform has also been called into question.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harald 03 Of Denmark House of Estridsen 1040s births 1080 deaths Illegitimate children of Sweyn II 11th-century kings of Denmark