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- Svend Tvesk?g (aka Swegn/Swein Forkbeard) was king of Denmark after having defeated his father, Harald Blaatand, in 986, and remained the king of Denmark through to his death in 1014. Whether Svend is the son of Queen Tove or, more probably, one of Harald Blaatand's many mistresses is not known. For a time in his youth he is said to have lived with his sister Gunhild, and her husband Palnig/Palne Toke, in the the territory that the Danes held in England.
Svend had imported clergymen and monks from England. Svend was looked upon unfavourably by the Church in Rome, due to his strong resistance to the German Bremer Church. This must have stemmed from the fact that he had issued letters to the Bishops in Aarhus, Ribe, Schleswig, and Odense, confuring on them the right to extend their influence into what was then German territory! However, the Bremer Church collapsed after the death of its powerful archbishop, Adaldag, in 988. The Bishop of Ribe, Odinkar, was a relative of the royal family. He had been educated in England, France, and also in Bremen. He was very competent, and managed to gather all the Danish bishops under his churchly domain.
Svend had ambitions to conquer England, and thus spent a great deal of time, and energy, there early in his reign. However, he was forced to come back to Denmark in order to deal with political differences with King Olav Trygvesen of Norway. Legend states that his was the result of a personal dispute between his wife Sigrid and the Norwegian king.
This dispute ended in 1000 when Svend united with the fleets of Earl (Jarl) Erik, of Norway, and of King Olof, of Sweden, at the "Battle of Svold". It is not known for certain where the battle was held, possibly it was located near R?gen or maybe at Hven in the ?resund. Together their forces defeated the Norwegian fleet, and King Olav himself was killed. After defeating the Norwegian king, Svend made himself the king of Norway.
Now he could turn his attention back to England. It appears that he used the Viking fortresses of Trellesborg, Fyrkat, Nonnebakken, and Aggersborg as bases for his forays to England. After many battles with the English the Vikings demanded ever increasing bribes from the English king to leave them in peace. This culminated in 1005-1006 with the enormous bribe of about 10 tons of silver. By 1013 Svend had conquered much of England; although he only reigned over that territory for two years. He is known in English lore as "Swein Forkbeard".
Alfred the Great is recognised as the first king of all England, but often wrongly presented as such from 871. However, he did not successfully beat the Vikings before 895. Svend was in control of the England during 1013-1014. He is the father of Knud den Store (aka Canute the Great), the first to really unit England as one kingdom. Vikings had large areas under their control, gaining and lossing some, until Knud managed to gain full control in 1016.
Svend was first married to Gunhild of the Vends. Gunhild was exiled to Poland by Svend Tvesk?g to the advantage of Sigrid Storr?da; she was brought back to Denmark again by her son after Svend Tvesk?g's death. Svend very likely also had a number of mistresses.
This database researched and compiled by Norman Lee Madsen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 21 July 2015.
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960 - 1014 (~ 54 år)
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