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 and Agnes von Brandenburg.

He became king in 1286, when his father was murdered 20 November by unknown assailants. Since Eric VI was then still a minor his mother ruled for him until 1294.

Eric Menved’s rule is a central period during the “Age of Decay" 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 first act of the new government was to settle the case of the former king’s murder at a special meeting was convened at Nyborg during Whitsun 1287. Chief among the accused were the former marsk Stig Andersen Hvide and Jacob Nielsen, Count of Halland. After a one day trial the jury found all the accused guilty. The properties of the condemned were declared forfeit and they were exiled from Denmark on pain of death.

The verdict is unsatisfactory on several counts. None of the accused was in the immediate vicinity when the king was killed. The accused were not allowed swear their innocence before the court, a right granted to them by law. Especially suspicious is the fact that despite the unclear circumstances surrounding Eric V’s death, the jury needed only one day to arrive at a guilty verdict. Also the accused had all belonged to the inner circle during Eric V’s reign; it is uncertain what they were supposed to gain by the king’s death. For this reasons the historians Erik Arup and Hugo Yrwing have labelled the verdict as a miscarriage of justice. They consider the murder a result of a power struggle between two noble factions, one led by marsk Stig and one led by Valdemar, Duke of South Jutland. Duke Valdemar had fallen from grace in 1283, but quickly rose in influence after 1288. Supposedly Valdemar and his allies conspired to kill the king and then to successfully cast suspicion on their rivals at court. Another historian, Kai Hørby, has pointed out that the murder might well have its origin in earlier struggles for the throne of Denmark. There were others who might think they had better claims to the throne than Eric V, such as the Norwegian king, Eirik Magnusson and his brother and successor Haakon V who were daughterssons of Eric IV of Denmark.

The length of time and scarcity of sources makes it unlikely that the murder will ever be conclusively solved. The results are clearer; the outlaws found refuge and alliance in Norway and from there ravaged the Danish coasts. This was to spark four decades of conflict and warfare between the Nordic kingdoms. 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 intention 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).

Married 1296 to Ingeborg Magnusdotter of Sweden. Children: Valdemar, Eric, Magnus, son.