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Copenhagen The Middle Ages



The Middle Ages

A century of internal political struggle weakened Viking power in Denmark, and it wasn't until the accession of Valdemar the Great in 1157 that the country was once again united and free of factional fighting. One of Valdemar's key supporters, his foster-brother Bishop Absalon , was given the village of Havn, strategically located on the Oresund - the narrow sea channel that divides Denmark from Sweden, and the main entrance to the Baltic - which was soon to become one of the main trading routes of medieval Europe.

Within a decade, Absalon had built a castle on the small island (today's Slotsholmen) opposite Havn, from where he countered the Wendish pirates, based in eastern Germany, who had previously raided the coast with impunity. Havn developed rapidly following the castle's construction. In 1209, Vor Frue Kirke - later to become the city's cathedral - was consecrated by Bishop Absalon's successor (Absalon had died in 1201), and in 1238 the city's first monastery was established on Grabrødretorv. Despite increasing competition with - and attacks by - the Hanseatic League, by 1254 it had acquired its modern name, København ("Merchants Port"), a fortified market town with full municipal rights.

Thirty years later, following a German invasion of Jutland, the Danish nobles seized the opportunity to curb the powers of the monarch, forcing Erik V in 1282 to sign a charter under which he agreed to rule together with the nobles of the Council of the Danish

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Realm , an institution which was to survive as a major influence in Danish government until 1660. Almost a century of civil war followed, as the nobles fought against the king and one another, during which Copenhagen was passed back and forth between the warring factions. In 1369, the city fell to Hanseatic forces, and stonemasons from the city of Lubeck proceeded to dismantle Bishop Absalon's castle brick by brick, with the intention of ending Danish control of the Oresund once and for all.


Ir., MSc.

Sri Hartini says "The possibilities transport from Copenhagen to Aalborg (flight, train or bus or other else) and its cost as well as the departure times."

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uatin says "Homie g gizzle my nizzle fo shizzle"


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1/9/2009 1:25:26 AM