Before a King
Born
in 910, Harald Bluetooth Gormsson was the son of King Gorm the Old, considered
as the first ruler of Denmark. When his
father passed away from grief over the death of Cnut, Harald’s older brother,
he succeeded as King in midst of suspicions of some. Rumors suggested
Harald orchestrated his brother’s death over jealousy for the affection of
their father. But it did not deterred Harald from consolidating his power and
expanding the kingdom.
Builder King
Harald other numerous construction throughout his kingdom, some with utilitarian purpose while
others glorified his parents and his own reign.
To
consolidate his control within the kingdom and maintain its security, he
ordered the building of Trelleborgs, round castles that enclosed long houses
serving as living quarters for soldiers. Trelleborgs marked the landscapes Trelleborg
in Skane, Sjaelland, Fyrkat, Aggersborg, Nonnebakken.
He
also built the oldest bridge in southern Scandinavia known as the Ravning
Bridge.
 |
| One of the Jelling Stones depicting a Crucifix |
But
his most famous work was the Jelling tomb and stones dedicated to his parents,
King Gorm the Old and Queen Thyra. He had his father and mother’s remains
buried beneath two huge mounds. Near it were huge rune stones. The biggest had
an inscription stating, “King Harald bade this monument be made in memory of
Gorm his father and Thyra his mother, that Harald who won for himself all
Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christians.”
The
inscription indeed detailed much of Harald Bluetooth’s reign, including his
expansion to Norway and his remarkable conversion of himself and his
people to Christianity.
Conquest and
Consolidation
His
conquest of Norway can be considered achieved through treachery and a clever
rouse that also helped him to consolidate his rule further.
Two
events sparked the conquest: 1) Guld-Harald, son of Cnut and Harald’s nephew
demanding a part of the kingdom as his inheritance; 2) Earl Hakon sought refuge
and support for his claim to Norway against the enthroned King Harald Greycloak.
With
these conditions, Harald moved to kill two bird with one stone, by getting
Norway and eliminating Guld-Harald’s threat to his reign. Harald
Bluetooth promised to his nephew Guld-Harald the Kingdom of Norway instead of
any part of Denmark.
King
Harald Bluetooth planned to invite King Harald Greycloak to come to Denmark so
he could be killed by his nephew. The Danish King then used the misery of
famine in Norway and invited King Harald Greycloak to come to Denmark and
received food assistance. As the Norwegian King
approached Denmark, Guld-Harald attacked and killed Harald Greycloak and claiming Norway as his.
Harald
then moved to his plan’s second phase. He instigated Earl Hakon to slay
Guld-Harald, which he did, making him the avenger of the fallen Norwegian King.
Following the death of Guld-Harald, Harald Bluetooth successfully eliminated
his contender, and with Harald Greycloak dead, he landed to Norway, took over
half of the Kingdom and gave it to his son Sven and the other half under Earl
Hakon’s regency. Hakon then declared his fealty to Harald Bluetooth, effectively
making Norway a vassal of Denmark.
Further Expansion
After
Harald expanded his reach to Norway, he then focused his attention towards the Baltic
region. He attacked the Wends that occupied lands surrounding the mouth of the
Oder River. His conquest ended with the sacking of Wollin and the establishment
of the fort Jomsborg.
He
also interfered with the rivalry for the throne of Sweden when its King
Styrbjorn sought his support against his contender Erik. Harald gave refuge to
King Styrbjorn when the Swedish king lose the upper hand and driven out of
Sweden. An alliance between the two kings cemented when Harald married
Styrbjorn’s sister, Gyntha. Harald gave support to his brother-in-law but it
proved insufficient when during the battle of Fyrisvellir in 984. Stybjorn lose
and fell to Erik who earned the epithet “the Victorious” as a result of his
success.
Cross and Sword
The
most notable of Harald Bluetooth’s reign was the spread of Christianity among
the Danes, but even this remained obscure as 2 stories with different nature
suggested the rise of the new religion.
Christianity
emergence in Harald’s life and rise among the Danes came either through a
miracle or through a war. The first story told that Harald was converted to
Christianity by a German Bishop named Poppo after the cleric exhibited an
extraordinary miracle of holding a red hot iron with his bare hands, which
remained clean and unhurt by the act.
The
second version of Harald’s conversion, however, was through war with its
neighbor – the Holy Roman Empire. Christianity continued to rise despite the
persecution that late King Gorm the Old pursued. Under Harald, new bishoprics
emerged in Aarhus, Ribe, and Schleswig. Harald showed lesser hostility and even
tolerated Christianity, especially with his mother, Queen Thyra, being a
Christian. The growth of Christianity in the country attracted the attention of
the aggressive Holy Roman Emperor Otto I who desired to expand his influence to
new lands, using religion as his banner.
A
competition arose for the influence of newly fledgling Christian bishophrics. Emperor Otto
announced his veil of protection over the new Danish bishoprics from any
obligation to King Harald. King Harald continued to assert his control over the new Christian institutions, undermining Otto's incursions. Otto I passed away in 675 and he was succeeded by his son Otto II,
who took more aggressive stand against Harald. Eventually, the two monarchs
collided in a war. Harald’s forces braced themselves in the famous Dannevirke,
the long fortified ramparted wall meant to defend Denmark from the incursions
of the Holy Roman Empire. He also sought then Earl Hakon of Norway’s support in
the upcoming conflict. When the attack did came, the Viking alliance
successfully held against the first wave of attacks by the Empire.
But
Harald’s resistance weakened as attacks of Otto II continued relentlessly,
forcing an agreement to be forged in Limfjord. The agreement forced Harald to
accept Christianity, being baptized by the priest Poppo with Emperor Otto
sponsoring the ceremony. Other than accepting Christianity, he was also forced
to pledge his fealty to Otto and maintain the integrity of church. Furthermore,
Harald also took the obligation of spreading the religion across his kingdom,
starting with his family.
Christianity
Spreading
Whether
Harald converted either by miracle or by force, Christianity’s mark spread
across the Kingdom. He moved his capital from Leire, a known center of pagan
Viking religion, to Roeskilde, where he ordered the construction of cathedral
to bless his new city. He also renovated his father’s and mother’s tomb in
Jelling, where he ordered the construction of a church and the erection of a
stone depicting an early Viking crucifix.
Harald
also promoted Christianity’s growth to Norway. He sought Earl Hakon to submit
to convert and declare it as Norway’s new religion. But Hakon,
staunchly rejected to be a Christian and severed all ties with Harald, refusing
to pay any taxes to the Danish King and revoke his pledge of allegiance.
But
resistance to the new religion did not only limited itself from Hakon, but it
also grew within Harald’s own family, especially his son, Sweyn Forkbeard.
Sweyn forced to be baptized into Christianity by his father, but he remained
faithful and a strong supporter of the traditional pagan ritual. His loyalty to
the traditional religion led him between 986 and 987 to rise up against his
father in rebellion.
Death of Harald
Bluetooth and his Epithet
Harald
Blueooth fought against his son, but he eventually lose to his son. In one battle in 987, he incurred a wound from a battle against
his son weakened him. The circumstances of his death remained obscure.
Some said he managed to leave Denmark and passed away in exile in modern day
Germany, while some said he fell to his wounds right after a fatal battle.
Regardless, his death led to the ascension of his son, Sweyn, as the new King
of Denmark, and from the foundations of a consolidated and powerful kingdom of
Harald, a Danish empire emerged that ruled over Denmark, Norway, and England.
Harald’s
another legacy also came in form of his epithet – Bluetooth. No one knew why he
was called as such. Some said it came from Harald’s decaying teeth, while some
suggested it denotes a tradition of Danish Vikings where they bleached their
teeth with different colors. Bluetooth became eventually used as a term in the
modern era as a means to connect devices wirelessly.
See also:
Bibliography:
Books:
Birch,
J.H.S. Denmark in History. London: Butler & Tanner Ltd., 1938.
Otte,
E.C. Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Chicago, Illinois: The H.W. Snow and Son
Company, 1910.
_______________.
Scandinavian History. New York, New York: Macmillan and Co., 1894.
Sinding,
Paul. History of Scandinavia: From the Early Times of the Northmen and Vikings
to the Present Day. Pittsburgh, Penselvania: W.S. Haven, 1803.
Somerville,
Angus et. al. (eds.). The Viking Age: A Reader. Toronto, Ontario: University of
Toronto Press, 2014.
Somerville,
Angus and Andrew McDonald. The Vikings and Their Age. Toronto, Ontario:
University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Website:
The
Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Harald I.” In Encyclopædia Britannica. Accessed
on February 2, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harald-I-king-of-Denmark
No comments:
Post a Comment