Absalon

Absalon was born around 1128 near Sorø, Zealand. Due to his name being unusual in Denmark, it is speculated that he was baptized on the Danish "Absalon" name day, October 30.[1] He was the son of Asser Rig, a magnate of the Hvide clan from Fjenneslev on Zealand,[2] and Inger Eriksdotter. He was also a kinsman of Archbishop Eskil of Lund.[1] He grew up at the castle of his father, and was brought up alongside his older brother Esbern Snare and the young prince Valdemar, who later became King Valdemar I of Denmark.[3] During the civil war following the death of Eric III of Denmark in 1146, Absalon travelled abroad to study theology in Paris, while Esbern fought for Valdemar's ascension to the throne. At Paris, he was influenced by the Gregorian Reform ideals of churchly independence from Monarchical rule.[4] He also befriended the canon William of Æbelholt at the Abbey of St Genevieve, whom he later made abbot of Eskilsø Abbey.[1]

Absalon first appears in Saxo Grammaticus's contemporary chronicle Gesta Danorum at the end of the civil war, at the brokering of the peace agreement between Sweyn III and Valdemar at St. Alban's Priory, Odense.[1] He was a guest at the following Roskilde banquet given in 1157 by Sweyn to his rivals Canute V and Valdemar. Both Absalon and Valdemar narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of Sweyn on this occasion, and escaped to Jutland, whither Sweyn followed them.[2] Absalon probably did not take part in the following battle of Grathe Heath in 1157, in which Sweyn was defeated and slain, which led to Valdemar ascending to the Danish throne. On Good Friday 1158, bishop Asser of Roskilde died, and Absalon was eventually elected bishop of Roskilde on Zealand with the help of Valdemar,[1] as the king's reward for the Hvide family support.[5]

Absalon was a close counsellor of Valdemar, and chief promoter of the Danish crusades against the Wends.[3] During the Danish civil war, Denmark had been open to coastal raids by the Wends.[5] It was Absalon's intention to clear the Baltic Sea of the Wendish pirates who inhabited its southern littoral zone which was later called Pomerania. The pirates had raided the Danish coasts during the civil war of Sweyn III, Canute V, and Valdemar, to the point where at the accession of Valdemar one-third of Denmark lay wasted and depopulated.[2] Absalon formed a guardian fleet, built coastal defenses, and led several campaigns against the Wends.[5] He even advocated forgiving the earlier enemies of Valdemar, which helped stabilize Denmark internally.[1]

Archbishop Eskil returned from exile in 1167. Eskil agreed on canonizing Valdemar's father Knud Lavard in 1170, with Absalon assisting him at the feast. When Eskil stepped down as Archbishop of Lund in 1177, he chose Absalon as his successor.[5] Absalon initially resisted the new position, as he did not want to lose his power position on Zealand, but complied with Papal orders to do so in 1178.[1] By a unique Papal dispensation, Absalon was allowed to simultaneously maintain his post as Bishop of Roskilde.[3] As the Archbishop of Lund, Absalon utilized ombudsmen from Zealand, demanded unfree labour from the peasantry, and instituted tithes.[5] He was a harsh and effective ruler, who cleared all Orthodox Christian liturgical remnants in favour of Papal standards.[3] A rebellion in the Scanian peasantry forced him to flee to Zealand in 1180, from where he returned and subdued the Scanians with the help of Valdemar.[5]

Valdemar died in 1182 and was succeeded by his son, Canute VI. Absalon served as Canute VI's counsellor.[5] Under Canute VI, Absalon was the chief policymaker in Danish politics.[4] Absalon kept his hostile attitude to the Holy Roman Empire. On the accession of Canute VI in 1182, an imperial ambassador arrived at Roskilde to get the new king to swear fealty to Frederick Barbarossa, but Absalon resolutely withstood him.[2]

When Absalon retired from military service in 1184 at the age of fifty-seven, he resigned the command of fleets and armies to younger men, like Duke Valdemar, the later king Valdemar II. He instead confined himself to the administration of the Danish empire.[1] In 1192, Absalon made his nephew Peder Sunesen his successor as Bishop of Roskilde, while his other nephew Anders Sunesen was named the chancellor of Canute VI.[5] Absalon died at Sorø Abbey on March 21, 1201, 73 years old, with his last will granting his personal holdings to the Abbey, apart from Fjenneslev which went to Esbern Snarre. He had already given Copenhagen to the Bishopric of Roskilde.[1] Absalon was interred at Sorø Abbey,[5] and was succeeded as Archbishop of Lund by Anders Sunesen.[3]

Bishop Absalon topples the god Svantevit at Arkona, as imagined by Laurits Tuxen

Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum was not finished until after the death of Absalon,[3] but Absalon was one of the chief heroic figures of the chronicle, which was to be the main source of knowledge about early Danish history.[5] Absalon left a legacy as the foremost politician and churchfather of Denmark in the 12th century.[3] Absalon was equally great as churchman, statesman, and warrior. His policy of expansion was to give Denmark the dominion of the Baltic for three generations. That he enjoyed warfare there can be no doubt; yet he was not like the ordinary fighting bishops of the Middle Ages, whose sole indication of their religious role was to avoid the shedding of blood by using a mace in battle instead of a sword. Absalon never neglected his ecclesiastical duties.[2]

In the 2000s, "Absalon" was adopted as the name for a class of Royal Danish Navy vessels, and the lead vessel of the class. HDMS Absalon (L16) and Esbern Snare (L17) were launched and commissioned by Denmark in 2004 and 2005.[7][8]

• Saxo, Gesta Danorum, ed. Holder (Strassburg, 1886), books xvi.
• Steenstrup, Danmarks Riges Historie. Oldtiden og den ældre Middelalder, pp. 570–735 (Copenhagen, 1897–1905).
• Absalon's Testamentum, in Migne, Patrologia Latina 209,18.

• "Axel" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
• "Absalon" . The American Cyclopædia. 1879.