Mindeskrift over Bodil Thurgotsdatter - udsnit fra mindesten for Erik Ejegod og Bodil Thurgotsdatter i Slangerup

Boedil (Bodil) Thurgotsdatter (died 1103) was a Danish queen,

queen consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

of King Eric I of Denmark.

Biography

Boedil was the daughter of the Danish Earl Thurgot Fagerskind and Thorgunna and the sister of Svend Thrugotsen. Her grandfather, called Galicieulv in the '' Knytlinga Saga'', was famous as a

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Her family is believed to be connected to the

viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

families in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and as a queen, she is listed as a benefactor to the

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

ric of Durham. Both she and her spouse were descendants of king

Sweyn I of Denmark Sweyn Forkbeard ( ; ; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 until his death, King of England for five weeks from December 1013 until his death, and King of Norway from 999/1000 until 1014. He was the father of King H ...

. She is believed to have been married to Eric before 1086, as she and her husband lived in exile in the Swedish court during the reign of King Olaf of Denmark (1086–1095). Contemporary chronicles praise her beauty and character. Saxo praised her for her tolerance of her husband's constant adultery, and it was claimed that she even helped to do the hair for his mistresses. In about the year of 1100 she accompanied her husband on his pilgrimage to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He travelled by horse, and she by carriage. Eric became sick and died of fever in

Paphos Paphos, also spelled as Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: #Old Paphos, Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and #New Paphos, New Paphos. It i ...

in 1103, but Bodil continued on the pilgrimage and managed to reach Jerusalem later that year. She died there, and was buried on the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...

, or at its foot in the

Valley of Josaphat The Valley of Josaphat (; variants: Valley of Jehoshaphat and Valley of Yehoshephat) is a Biblical place mentioned by name in the Book of Joel ( and ): "I will gather together all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Josaphat: "The ...

Later status

In 1170, king Valdemar introduced Christian succession to the kingdom of Denmark, and Boedil was declared the only "true wife" of her spouse and the mother of the ruling house of Denmark, and she was given a saintly appearance as such. According to the law of the church, however, her marriage would still have been illegal, as she and her spouse were related, which was therefore long ignored in history, and she was long portrayed as a half sister to the German Roman emperor Henry, and as such was to have been taken as a war prize by Eric. This history revision can be seen as a sign of the new law which separated the status of children born in and out of wedlock.

References

Sources

Artiklen ''Bodil'' i Dansk Biografisk Leksikon
(Danish)
''Bodil ( – 1103)'' i Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon
(Danish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Thurgotsdatter, Boedil Danish royal consorts 11th-century births 1103 deaths 11th-century Danish women 12th-century Danish women 11th-century Danish people 12th-century Danish people

Biography

Later status

See also

References

Sources