Hvide (English: ''Whites'') was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Danish

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, mea ...

, and afterwards in early modern era a Danish noble

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

of presumably one surviving branch of leaders of that clan. Before the 16th century it was not used as a surname. It signified the color

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

Medieval Hvide clan

The Hvide were influential in the Danish island of Zealand, and occasionally in other close parts of the country, such as other Danish islands and

Skåne 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 ...

. They had a stronghold in

Jørlunde Jørlunde is a village with a population of 299 (1 January 2022) in North Zealand in Denmark. In the late Viking age and early medieval age, Jørlunde was the center of the Hvide clan. Jørlunde Church (''Joerlunde Kirke'') was erected by Skja ...

. A folktale of the clan name contrasts this clan against the "black" clan of Viking leaders of

(that then belonged to Denmark but now belongs to Sweden) ("Svarte Skåning") who had

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...

as their chief god. The white islander clan were "protectees" of non-black god

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...

. The Hvide leaders seem to have been among first to convert to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

, and later, the clansmen regularly rose to highest positions of Danish church, including several Roman Catholic

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

s of

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 ...

. Several leaders of the clan and of variety of its branches are known since the early 12th century. At that time, a number of Hvide leaders were dubbed as "brothers" and as sons of mythical

Skjalm Hvide Skjalm Hvide (before 1045 – c. 1113), was the Earl of Zealand in Denmark in the end of the Viking Age (793–1066) and up to his death. Skjalm's father was Toke Trylle, whose father was ''Slag'' (or ''Slau'', or he may have been called by bo ...

, earl of Zealand in the latter half of the 11th century; or as his grandsons. Such genealogy is however probably a mythical invention, them generally being more distant kinsmen with each other and "brothers" in the sense of being leaders of parts of the same clan.

Family of Stig Hvitaleder

Stig Tokesen (died 1150) was chieftain of the Hvide (''Hvitaledr''), a magnate and clan leader in the mid-12th century. His first wife, Margrete Knudsdatter af

Hedeby Hedeby (, Old Norse ''Heiðabýr'', German ''Haithabu'') was an important Danish Viking Age (8th to the 11th centuries) trading settlement near the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula, now in the Schleswig-Flensburg district of Schleswig-Holst ...

, was a sister of the future King

Valdemar I of Denmark Valdemar I (14 January 1131 – 12 May 1182), also known as Valdemar the Great ( da, Valdemar den Store), was King of Denmark from 1154 until his death in 1182. The reign of King Valdemar I saw the rise of Denmark, which reached its medieval ze ...

and daughter of the "martyred" Knud Lavard, granddaughter of King

Eric I of Denmark Eric I ( – 10 July 1103), also known as Eric the Good ( da, Erik Ejegod), was King of Denmark following his brother Olaf I Hunger in 1095. He was a son of Sweyn II. His mother's identity is unknown. He married Boedil Thurgotsdatter. Biog ...

and his wife Boedil Thurgotsdatter(died 1103). The couple's daughter, Kirsten Stigsdatter (c. 1145–c. 1200) was married to King Charles VII of Sweden.

Family of Asser Rig

Brothers

Absalon Absalon (21 March 1201) was a Danish statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death. He was the foremost politician and church father of Denm ...

, archbishop of Lund and

Esbern Snare Esbern Snare, also known as Esbern the Resolute, (1127–1204) was a '' høvding'', or chieftain, royal chancellor and crusader. His family were members of the powerful Hvide clan. In 1192, during the Crusades and after the fall of Jerusalem, h ...

, (1127–1204)

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant ...

of the Kalundborg castle, are mentioned as sons of legendary Asser the rich.

Galen clan

Apparently the Galen, whose maternal forefathers were perceived a branch of Hvide clan, settled in Skåne. At least after continuing in

cognatic Cognatic kinship is a mode of descent calculated from an ancestor counted through any combination of male and female links, or a system of bilateral kinship where relations are traced through both a father and mother. Such relatives may be know ...

lines, not

agnatic Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

. The "proto"-Galen magnates had originally their seat at Knardrup in Zealand. Lord High Constable Ebbe Sunesen of Knardrup (died 1208), is on one hand counted as one of the proto-Galen, on the other hand traditionally regarded as a Hvide, and thus apparently was a relative of contemporary leaders of the Hvide clan. ( Knardrup Manor), his seat was in northern Zealand, but he is documented to have possessed lands in Skåne (for example, Härlövs borg). After him, the Galen presumably increased their lands in Skåne and more or less moved to that province. Archbishop

Jakob Erlandsen Jakob Erlandsen (died 18 February 1274) was a Danish Archbishop of Lund (1254–1274) and the central character of the first great church conflict in Denmark. History Belonging to a wealthy magnate family ( Galen clan) that was related to Arch ...

is known to have been one of the brothers who were sons of lady Sidsel, the foremother of the Scanian Galen noble family, herself a descendant and heiress of that Knardrup branch of the Hvide clan.

Litle family

The Litle (de

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 ...

) was a noble family which appears to have started as

offshoot of the proto-Galen branch of the Hvide clan, and settled to Skåne. Their foremother is mentioned to have been a daughter of the aforementioned Ebbe Sunesen, Lord of Knardrup and Härlöv.

Prelates

The Hvide clan and its relations seem occupied the many powerful positions within the Roman Catholic Church in Denmark for much of the medieval period. Archbishops and bishops considered sons of these clans included: *

bishop of Roskilde The former Diocese of Roskilde () was a diocese within the Roman-Catholic Church which was established in Denmark some time before 1022. The diocese was dissolved with the Reformation of Denmark and replaced by the Protestant Diocese of Zealan ...

, then archbishop of Lund * Niels Stigsen, Bishop of the Diocese of Roskilde * Petrus Sunonis, Bishop of the Diocese of Roskilde *

Andreas Sunonis Anders Sunesen (also ''Andreas'', ''Suneson'', ''Sunesøn'', Latin: ''Andreas Sunonis'') (c. 1167 – 1228) was a Danish archbishop of Lund, Scania, from 21 March 1201, at the death of Absalon, to his own death in 1228. He is the author of ...

, Archbishop of the

Diocese of Lund The Diocese of Lund ( sv, Lunds stift) is a diocese within the Church of Sweden which corresponds to the provinces of Blekinge and Skåne. There are 217 parishes within the diocese, the most significant number in any of the dioceses of the Chur ...

Peder Bang Peter is a common masculine given name. It is derived directly from Greek , ''Petros'' (an invented, masculine form of Greek ''petra,'' the word for "rock" or "stone"), which itself was a translation of Aramaic ''Kefa'' ("stone, rock"), the new n ...

, Bishop of the Diocese of Roskilde *

, Archbishop of the

* Karl Eriksen Röde, Archbishop of the

Post-medieval noble family

Frederick I, king of Denmark (1523–1533) ordered all nobles to take a surname. At that time, Rødkilde and Katterøe branches of the Hvide clan (according to legendary genealogies, descended from Lord High Constable

Stig Andersen Hvide Stig Andersen Hvide (died December 1293) was a Danish nobleman and magnate, known as the leading man among the outlaws after the murder of King Eric V of Denmark. In Danish tradition, he is known as ''Marsk Stig''. Biography In spite of his surna ...

) yet survived in male line, and they took the surname. These Hvide became extinct in the male line already before the beginning of the 17th century. The 19th Century writer

Herman Bang Herman Joachim Bang (20 April 1857 – 29 January 1912) was a Danish journalist and author, one of the men of the Modern Breakthrough. Biography Bang was born in Asserballe, on the small Danish island of Als, the son of a South Jutlandic vicar ...

was raised by a paternal grandfather, who at times impressed his grandson with stories of their alleged family ties to the historical Hvide clan.

References

{{White-surname Medieval Denmark Danish noble families