Eric VI of Denmark
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Eric VI Menved (1274 - 13 November 1319) was King of Denmark (1286-1319) and a son of Eric V.
Born in 1274. Parents: King Erik V and Agnes von Brandenburg. He became King in 1286, when his father was murdered.
Married 1296 to Ingeborg Magnusdottir. Children: Valdemar, Eric, Magnus, son.
Eric Menved’s rule is a central period during the “Age of Deacy" in Denmark 1241-1340. His early reign – during which he was lead by his mother and her German relatives - was affected by the unrest and wars that followed the murder of his father. The outlaws who were sentenced because of the regicide ravaged the Danish coasts in alliance with the King of Norway. At the same time a new ecclesiastical conflict appeared because of the ambitious Archbishop Jens Grand who tried to create an almost independent church and who supported the outlaws of which many were his kinsmen. The young king arrested the archbishop 1294 and kept him in a hard prison from which he managed to escape two years later. The conflict ended at the Papal court in Rome 1302 by a de facto victory of the king – indeed he had to pay a great penalty because of the arrest, but Jens Grand was removed from his office in Denmark. Also the Norwegian conflict ended by a compromise which as a whole satisfied the Danish government. Eric now maintained a strong royal power based upon loyal magnates and German allies.
After these relative successes the king however began a large-scale expansionist policy in Northern Germany probably with the inmtention of walking in the footsteps of Valdemar II. Through alliances with German princes among them the Duke of Mecklenburg he managed to become the formal lord of many Hanseatic cities and vassals fighting Brandenburg and some minor states. Apparently he had recovered Denmark as a Scandinavian great power. He also intervened in Sweden in order to support his brother-in-law the king against the opposition.
The long wars however drained Denmark’s economic resources and the lavishness and extravaganzas of the king (a great and expensive banquet at Rostock 1311 was a climax) became a further strain on the finances. His war policy was now met by a bitter opposition among both the peasants and the magnates and caused a dangerous rebellion in Jutland 1313 that had to be crushed by German military help. His growing difficulties made him beginning to mortgage large parts of the monarchy mainly to German princes and condottieres a fact that utterly hampered his freedom of action. When he died 1319 having survived all his 15 children Denmark was a kingdom in a state of decay behind the appearance of a great power.
Traditionally the rule of Eric VI has been regarded one of the few bright spots of the period because of its attempt of recovering Denmark and he has been hailed in Danish romantic literature. Viewed today however his war policy shares the responsibility for the dissolution of the monarchy that followed during the next generation.
The nickname of King Eric has been much discussed. A popular explanation is that it is an abbreviation of his alleged favourite oath (“ved alle hellige mænd” – Eng.: by all holy men). Another explanation is that it derives from the elder Danish “menvett” (Eng.: bird of ill omen).
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Template:Denmark-bio-stubda:Erik 6. Menved de:Erik VI. (Dänemark) fr:Erik VI de Danemark pl:Eryk Menved sv:Erik Menved