Sweyn III GratheFor the significance of the epithet, see Tripartition ( da, Svend III Grathe) ( – 23 October 1157) was the King of Denmark between 1146 and 1157, in shifting alliances with Canute V and his own cousin Valdemar I. In 1157, the three agreed a tripartition of Denmark. Sweyn attempted to kill his rivals at the peace banquet, and was subsequently defeated by Valdemar I at the

Battle of Grathe Heath The Battle of Grathe Heath was fought in 1157 between the Danish armies of Valdemar I and his rival for the Danish throne, Sweyn III. Valdemar's forces won the battle, and Sweyn III was slain while attempting to flee. Background The battle of ...

and killed.

Early life

Sweyn was the illegitimate son of King Erik II the Memorable and the concubine Thunna. Sweyn travelled with Eric II to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

in the mid-1130s, when his father fought King Niels to win the Danish throne. When Eric II died in 1137, he was succeeded by Eric III, and Sweyn was sent to the court of Conrad III of Germany. Here he befriended Conrad's nephew

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

. Sweyn travelled to Denmark, where he and his cousin Valdemar sought to canonize Sweyn's uncle and Valdemar's father

Canute Lavard Canute Lavard ( Danish: Knud Lavard; cognate with English Lord) (12 March 1096 – 7 January 1131) was a Danish prince. Later he was the first Duke of Schleswig and the first border prince who was both a Danish and a German vassal, a position ...

in 1146, under protest from Archbishop Eskil of Lund 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 Skåne ...

. At the

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...

of Eric III in 1146, Sweyn was elected king by the magnates on

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

while Canute V was crowned by their counterparts in

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

.Svend 3. Grathe
at Gyldendals Åbne Encyklopædi

Civil war

For the next years, Sweyn fought a

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

against Canute for the kingship of Denmark, supported by Valdemar. Canute was supported by Archbishop Eskil, but Sweyn moved to secure Eskil's loyalty by granting the

Archbishop of Lund List of (arch)bishops of Lund. Until the Danish Reformation the centre of a great Latin (arch)bishopric, Lund has been in Sweden since the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The Diocese of Lund is now one of thirteen in the Church of Sweden. Catho ...

land holdings in Scania and Bornholm. Sweyn subsequently defeated Canute on Zealand, to confine him to Jutland. In 1147, Sweyn and Canute united to support the

Wendish Crusade The Wendish Crusade (german: Wendenkreuzzug) was a military campaign in 1147, one of the Northern Crusades and a part of the Second Crusade, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Sl ...

. As Sweyn engaged the

Wends Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people ...

in naval battle, he received little support from Canute, and lost his flagship. The civil war was soon re-ignited. After several battles, Sweyn conquered

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

and parts of Jutland, and set Valdemar up as

Duke of Schleswig The following is a list of jarls and dukes, who ruled over Schleswig respectively Southern Jutland (Sønderjylland). First jarls/dukes Houses of Estridsen and Schauenburg (1080–1460) House of Oldenburg In 1864, following the Second Sch ...

. Sweyn then campaigned with Etheler von Dithmarschen against

Adolf II of Holstein Adolf II of Holstein ( – 6 July 1164) was the Count of Schauenburg and Holstein from 1130 until his death, though he was briefly out of Holstein from 1137 until 1142. He succeeded his father Adolf I under the regency of his mother, Hildewa. ...

, a supporter of Canute. Sweyn succeeded in banishing Canute in 1150, and Canute's re-entry with German troops in 1151 was also repulsed. Both Canute and Sweyn sought the support of Conrad III of Germany. In 1152, Frederick I was crowned

King of Germany This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (''Regnum Teutonicum''), from the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 until the collapse of the German Emp ...

, and he brokered a deal in

Merseburg Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a dioces ...

later that year. The deal made Sweyn "premier king", with Canute eligible to receive a substantial portion of Denmark, and Valdemar keeping the Duchy of Schleswig. However, Sweyn only granted Canute small holdings, breaking the agreement, and Sweyn's position in Denmark was further undermined by his alleged tyrant manners and his pro- German behaviour.

Tripartition

In 1154, Sweyn was overthrown by an alliance between Canute and Valdemar, who was crowned Canute's co-ruler as Valdemar I. Eskil and the majority of Sweyn's other supporters deserted him, and he went into exile in Germany. Sweyn spent three years seeking support for a reconquest, and returned to Denmark in 1157 with the support of German duke

Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...

. This prompted the Danish magnates to force through a tripartition of the kingdom into Jutland, Zealand, and Scania. Sweyn chose first, and was made the ruler of Scania. At the peace banquet in

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

on 9 August 1157, Sweyn planned on killing his two co-rulers, and succeeded in having Canute killed. The incident became known as the ''Bloodfeast of Roskilde''. Valdemar escaped to Jutland, and on 23 October 1157, Sweyn and his army faced and met him at the

, which gave him his nickname ''Grathe''. Sweyn's army was defeated, and he was killed by

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasant ...

s who caught him when his

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

was sucked into a bog while he fled from the battle.

Marriage and issue

In 1152, Sweyn married Adela of Meissen, daughter of

Conrad, Margrave of Meissen Conrad I ( – 5 February 1157), called the Great (german: Konrad der Große), a member of the House of Wettin, was Margrave of Meissen from 1123 and Margrave of Lusatia from 1136 until his retirement in 1156. Initially a Saxon count, he became t ...

, and Luitgard of Ravenstein. They had a short-lived son, possibly named Eric, and a daughter, Luitgard, who married Berthold I of Istria.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweyn 03 Of Denmark Monarchs killed in action House of Estridsen Christians of the Wendish Crusade 12th-century births 1157 deaths Burials at Viborg Cathedral Illegitimate children of Danish monarchs 12th-century kings of Denmark Royal reburials