29:
249:. However, the violent showdown in 854 cost the lives of the Danish grandees who had been favourable to the archbishop. Some people blamed the recent disasters on the intrusion of the new faith. After his accession, Horik II followed the advice of the anti-Christian Hovi Jarl and closed the Hedeby church, expelling its priest. However, political developments soon changed the conditions for missionary work. Already in 855 two claimants arrived from their base in
323:. It is sometimes alleged that the king gave permission for a third Danish church to be built in Århus during the time of Bishop Rimbert, Ansgar's successor, in 866. However, Århus is only mentioned in the actual sources in 948. Horik even allowed the Christians in Hedeby to ring church bells for the first time, much to the disgust of the non-Christians who believed the bells would frighten off the land spirits (Danish: landvætter) and ruin the harvest. In 864
297:, where Hovi Jarl probably supported Rørik. The possession of Hedeby would have secured considerable toll incomes, as it was one of the most important commercial centers of Viking Age Scandinavia. It would have been in Lothair II's interest to use the port to increase trade between Lotharingia and Scandinavia. However, the plans were cut short by a new incident, since Rørik's Frisian port
411:(c. 1200) makes Erik the Child a son of Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye and thus grandson of Ragnar Lodbrok. According to Saxo he developed into a Viking raider on the lines of his grandfather, but eventually accepted Christianity through the influence of Ansgar. He married a daughter of Guttorm (the nemesis of Horik I) and sired a son called Canute, ancestor of the later kings.
318:
who found their way north. Horik was guided by a relative called
Burghard who had also been influential during Horik I's reign and was well disposed to Ansgar. According to the polished account of Rimbert, the young ruler appreciated Ansgar as a good and upright ally. He was persuaded by Ansgar to
199:
make clear that only a single royal child was left alive, also called Horik (Old Norse, Hárikr). In later historiography he is hence known as Erik the Child. The problem with the story is that at the time there was no hereditary kingship. Kings were literally shouted into office at the assemblies
186:
had a long reign of more than 40 years. By the mid 9th century he was old by the standards of the time, and younger relatives began to create trouble. One of them, Guttorm, attacked Horik in 854. In the brief civil war that followed, the branches of the royal family were nearly wiped out. The
257:
and
Gudfred, nephew and son of the former king Harald Klak, who were probably distant relatives of the Gudfred clan. They therefore had a claim to power as valid as Horik's. At the time Rørik was attempting to carve out a Frisian kingdom between the Saxons and the Danes with the help of the
301:
was ravaged by other
Vikings while he was absent. Rørik soon had to leave his Danish kingdom for Frisia, and his possessions apparently reverted to Horik. Circumstances thus prevented a thinly veiled attempt to add southern Denmark to the Carolingians.
335:(one of the first gentile converts to the teachings of Christ). In a letter to Horik he encouraged him to accept baptism and abstain from worshiping wooden idols. There is no evidence that he was actually converted, however.
367:
and Frisia. Whether the royal power in
Denmark had part in the planning and organization is unknown. Later sagas assert that this was the case, depicting the leaders of the invasion as sons of the Danish king
314:
kingdom, as his predecessor Horik I had done before him. The king, although not a
Christian, turned increasingly tolerant of the Christians among his people and of the missionaries from the
395:, son of Lodbrok and king in Denmark according to the later sagas. A Christian Dane called Sigfred, nephew of "Heoric the Dane" (presumably Horik II) is mentioned in West Francia in 884.
221:
Horik II was probably not the son of Horik I, but a close relative, perhaps a nephew or grandson of the old king. At any rate he belonged to the powerful House of
208:, and Horik II emerged as the strongest of the claimants although young. Little is known about him except for stray references in various Frankish annals and
473:
695:
170:
showed tendencies of breaking up. After his demise under unknown circumstances, Denmark entered a long period of obscurity, until the rise of the
359:
two years later, starting the Viking conquest and colonization of much of northeast
England. While they are expressly called Danes in the
407:. Through his influential church history, the ruler occurs in some medieval Scandinavian texts, his name being misinterpreted as "Erik".
391:, Halfdan may be identified with the Halfdan of the Great Heathen Army, while Sigfred might have been the prototype for the legendary
597:
387:. Nothing in particular is known about them, but for chronological reasons they were probably not sons of Horik II. According to
242:
204:
alive. Judging from the
Frankish sources, the power center of the dynasty lay in extreme southern Denmark, including
200:(Danish: landsting) by the chiefs and peasants who supported him. Moreover, there still relatives of the former king
642:
543:
669:
327:
received gifts from Horik via the East
Frankish king. The Pope wrote that Horik had made a promise to God and
392:
332:
39:
159:
360:
315:
383:
Horik II is not mentioned after 864. In 873 the Franks entertained diplomatic contacts with the kings
677:
384:
259:
171:
623:
373:
344:
226:
91:
380:
were known as "kings" and may or may not have been related to the kings in the Danish homeland.
28:
254:
189:
412:
408:
278:
553:
420:
324:
310:
Now Hovi Jarl was expelled from Hedeby by Horik, who opened friendly relations with the
607:
404:
369:
139:
343:
During Horik's reign, Vikings raided
England in 855 and 860 with varying success. The
689:
424:
510:
458:
443:
372:. However, no such king is known in the contemporary sources. The invasion leaders
311:
210:
195:
225:
which held power in much of
Denmark. Sons were not usually named after fathers in
277:
to intimidate Horik. As it turned out the young king had to give up his lands in
270:. The two Viking princes demanded part of the Danish realm but were turned away.
593:
388:
356:
348:
328:
282:
274:
201:
633:
294:
267:
286:
263:
637:
273:
Rørik nevertheless came back in 857, using the authority of Lothair II of
298:
662:
416:
377:
364:
222:
215:
183:
167:
163:
129:
118:
113:
73:
63:
290:
250:
246:
238:
205:
166:
in 854 to an unknown date between 864 and 873. During his reign the
352:
320:
363:, the army appears to have been formed by Vikings operating in
319:
reopen the ruined church and donated land for a new church at
620:
The nine books of Danish history of Saxo Grammaticus
135:
124:
112:
97:
83:
79:
69:
59:
45:
38:
21:
403:Horik II was known to the 11th century chronicler
596:, "Kings and kingship in Viking Northumbria",
245:, and allowed the construction of a church in
237:The old Horik I had been friendly disposed to
571:Vol. 1.1 (1975). Copenhagen: Reitzels, p. 43.
8:
331:and hoped he would continue in the steps of
158:(Danish: "Erik the Child"), was King of the
497:Vilhelm la Cour (1936), "Haarik den Unge",
484:Vilhelm la Cour (1936), "Haarik den Unge",
651:
542:. Copenhagen: Lindhardt og Ringhof, Ch. 5
27:
18:
501:. Vol. VIII. Copenhagen: Schultz, p. 544.
488:. Vol. VIII. Copenhagen: Schultz, p. 544.
436:
289:. This may have included Hedeby at the
7:
608:Annales Vedastini, Anno DCCCLXXXIIII
14:
419:whose daughter Ragnhild married
415:(c. 1230) mentions King Erik of
150:(died after 864), also known as
696:9th-century monarchs of Denmark
474:Peter Sawyer, "Kongefamilierne"
385:Sigfred and his brother Halfdan
580:G.N. Garmonsway (ed.) (1972),
1:
316:Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen
174:dynasty in the 10th century.
101:
50:
243:Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen
33:Horik II as depicted in 1670
178:Political crisis and ascent
712:
233:Struggle for South Jutland
128:unknown, perhaps a son of
674:
667:
659:
654:
643:Norsk biografisk leksikon
582:The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
527:The Catholic Encyclopedia
525:"Ancient See of Aarhus".
499:Dansk biografisk leksikon
486:Dansk biografisk leksikon
26:
584:. London: Dent, p. 66-9.
393:Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye
333:Cornelius the Centurion
638:"Ragnhild Eriksdatter"
558:Danmarks Riges Krønike
538:Else Roesdahl (2018),
361:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
351:in 865 and conquered
154:or, in late sources,
678:Sigfred and Halfdan
569:Danmarks Riges brev
540:Danmarks Vikingetid
306:Missionary recovery
618:Saxo Grammaticus,
423:and gave birth to
345:Great Heathen Army
293:, an inlet of the
227:Viking Age Denmark
211:The Life of Ansgar
684:
683:
675:Succeeded by
162:from the fall of
145:
144:
40:King of the Danes
16:King of the Danes
703:
660:Preceded by
652:
646:
631:
625:
616:
610:
605:
599:
591:
585:
578:
572:
566:
560:
554:Huitfeldt, Arild
551:
545:
536:
530:
523:
517:
508:
502:
495:
489:
482:
476:
471:
465:
456:
450:
441:
413:Snorri Sturluson
409:Saxo Grammaticus
339:End of the reign
182:His predecessor
106:
103:
55:
52:
31:
19:
711:
710:
706:
705:
704:
702:
701:
700:
686:
685:
680:
670:King of Denmark
665:
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632:
628:
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588:
579:
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563:
552:
548:
537:
533:
524:
520:
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496:
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483:
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472:
468:
457:
453:
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438:
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421:Harald Fairhair
401:
341:
325:Pope Nicholas I
308:
235:
180:
107:
104:
90:
88:
53:
34:
17:
12:
11:
5:
709:
707:
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682:
681:
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661:
657:
656:
655:Regnal titles
648:
647:
626:
611:
600:
586:
573:
561:
546:
531:
518:
513:Life of Ansgar
503:
490:
477:
466:
461:Life of Ansgar
451:
446:Life of Ansgar
435:
434:
432:
429:
405:Adam of Bremen
400:
399:Later accounts
397:
370:Ragnar Lodbrok
340:
337:
307:
304:
234:
231:
179:
176:
168:Danish kingdom
143:
142:
140:Norse paganism
137:
133:
132:
126:
122:
121:
116:
110:
109:
99:
95:
94:
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81:
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66:
61:
57:
56:
47:
43:
42:
36:
35:
32:
24:
23:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
708:
697:
694:
693:
691:
679:
672:
671:
664:
658:
653:
645:
644:
639:
635:
630:
627:
624:
621:
615:
612:
609:
604:
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598:
595:
590:
587:
583:
577:
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570:
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562:
559:
555:
550:
547:
544:
541:
535:
532:
528:
522:
519:
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514:
507:
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500:
494:
491:
487:
481:
478:
475:
470:
467:
464:
462:
455:
452:
449:
447:
440:
437:
430:
428:
426:
425:Eric Bloodaxe
422:
418:
414:
410:
406:
398:
396:
394:
390:
386:
381:
379:
375:
371:
366:
362:
358:
354:
350:
346:
338:
336:
334:
330:
326:
322:
317:
313:
312:East Frankish
305:
303:
300:
296:
292:
288:
284:
280:
279:South Jutland
276:
271:
269:
265:
261:
256:
252:
248:
244:
240:
232:
230:
228:
224:
219:
217:
213:
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207:
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185:
177:
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157:
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134:
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127:
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117:
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100:
96:
93:
86:
82:
78:
75:
72:
68:
65:
62:
58:
48:
44:
41:
37:
30:
25:
20:
668:
641:
629:
619:
614:
603:
589:
581:
576:
568:
564:
557:
549:
539:
534:
526:
521:
515:, Chapter 32
512:
506:
498:
493:
485:
480:
469:
463:, Chapter 31
460:
454:
448:, Chapter 31
445:
439:
402:
382:
342:
309:
281:between the
272:
253:. They were
236:
220:
209:
196:Vita Ansgari
194:
190:Fulda Annals
188:
181:
155:
151:
147:
146:
594:Rory McTurk
389:Rory McTurk
357:Northumbria
349:East Anglia
347:arrived to
329:Saint Peter
283:Eider River
275:Lotharingia
260:Carolingian
202:Harald Klak
89:9th century
60:Predecessor
634:Claus Krag
431:References
295:Baltic Sea
268:Lothair II
266:and later
119:Sigfredian
105: 870
54: 870
622:, p. 568
511:Rimbert,
459:Rimbert,
444:Rimbert,
287:North Sea
264:Lothair I
187:Frankish
156:Erik Barn
70:Successor
690:Category
299:Dorestad
285:and the
193:and the
148:Horik II
136:Religion
108:Denmark?
22:Horik II
663:Horik I
417:Jutland
378:Bagsecg
374:Halfdan
365:Francia
262:rulers
223:Gudfred
216:Rimbert
184:Horik I
172:Jelling
164:Horik I
130:Horik I
114:Dynasty
92:Denmark
74:Bagsecg
64:Horik I
529:, 1913
291:Schlei
251:Frisia
247:Hedeby
239:Ansgar
206:Hedeby
125:Father
87:Hárikr
49:854 –
255:Rørik
160:Danes
152:HĂĄrik
46:Reign
376:and
353:York
321:Ribe
98:Died
84:Born
640:in
355:in
214:by
692::
636::
556:.
427:.
241:,
229:.
218:.
102:c.
51:c.
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