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Sweyn Forkbeard (963-1014)

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Biography

Sweyn Forkbeard was born 17 April 963 in Denmark to Knut Danaást (c940-962) and Tove of the Obotrites (c940-c1000) and died 3 February 1014 Gainesborough, Lincolnshire, England of unspecified causes. He married Świętosława . He married Sigrid the Haughty (c964-) . He married Gunhilda of Wenden .

Sweyn Forkbeard ;[1] Danish: Svend Tveskæg; 17 April 963[2] – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 until his death, King of England from December 1013 until his death, and King of Norway from 999/1000 until 1013/14. He was the father of King Harald II of Denmark, King Cnut the Great, and Queen Estrid Svendsdatter.[3]

In the mid-980s, Sweyn revolted against his father, Harald Bluetooth, and seized the throne. Harald was driven into exile and died shortly afterwards in November 986 or 987.[4] In 1000, with the allegiance of Eric, Earl of Lade, Sweyn ruled most of Norway. In 1013, shortly before his death, he became the first Danish king of the English after a long effort.

Early Life

Sweyn Forkbeard coin

A coin of Sweyn Forkbeard, minted in 995; this is the earliest known coin with a Latin inscription minted in Scandinavia, based on Anglo-Saxon models and made by an English moneyer (obv.: ZVEN REX AD DENER "Sven, king of [or among] the Danes", rev.: GOD-WINE M-AN D-NER "Godwine, moneyer among the Danes").[5][6]

Historiographical sources on Sweyn's life include the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (where his name is rendered as Swegen),[7] Adam of Bremen's 11th-century Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg, and Snorri Sturluson's 13th-century Heimskringla.[8] Conflicting accounts of Sweyn's later life also appear in the Encomium Emmae Reginae, an 11th-century Latin encomium in honour of his son king Cnut's queen Emma of Normandy, along with Chronicon ex chronicis by Florence of Worcester, another 11th-century author.

There are conflicting accounts of Sweyn's heritage. One chronicle, Gesta Wulinensis ecclesiae pontificum, only recently discovered in 2019 and written around 990 by Avico, the chaplain of Harald Bluetooth, states that Sweyn was the son of Harald's older brother, Knut Danaást and Tove. According to this source, Knut Danaást was killed in battle on 17 October 962 and his wife was pregnant with Sweyn at the time. Tove married her brother-in-law Harald in January 963 and Sweyn was born around Easter 963. Harald raised Sweyn as his adopted son.[2] According to Adam of Bremen, Sweyn was the son of Harald Bluetooth and a woman named "Gunhild". When Harald converted to Christianity, Sweyn was baptised "Otto" (in honour of German king Otto I).[9]

Sweyn married the widow of Erik, king of Sweden, named "Gunhild" in some sources,[10] or identified as an unnamed sister of Boleslaus, ruler of Poland.[4]

Historian Ian Howard describes Sweyn as "a competent military commander, politician and diplomat" who made "a formidable and successful king."[8]


Issue

The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg and the Encomium Emmae report Cnut's mother as having been Świętosława, a daughter of Mieszko I of Poland. Norse sources of the High Middle Ages, most prominently Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson, also give a Polish princess as Cnut's mother, whom they call Gunhild and a daughter of Burislav, the king of Vindland. Since in the Norse sagas the king of Vindland is always Burislav, this is reconcilable with the assumption that her father was Mieszko (not his son Bolesław). Adam of Bremen in Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum is unique in equating Cnut's mother (for whom he also produces no name) with the former queen of Sweden, wife of Eric the Victorious and by this marriage mother of Olof Skötkonung. To complicate the matter, Heimskringla and other sagas also have Sweyn marrying Eric's widow, but she is distinctly another person in these texts, named Sigrid the Haughty, whom Sweyn only marries after Gunhild, the Slavic princess who bore Cnut, has died. Different theories regarding the number and ancestry of Sweyn's wives (or wife) have been advanced (see Sigrid the Haughty and Gunhild). But since Adam is the only source to equate the identity of Cnut's and Olof Skötkonung's mother, this is often seen as an error on Adam's part, and it is often assumed that Sweyn had two wives, the first being Cnut's mother, and the second being the former Queen of Sweden. Cnut's brother Harald was the youngest of the two brothers, according to Encomium Emmae.

Sweyn had eight children with Sigrid the Haughty and Gunhild of Wenden:[3]

  1. Harald II of Denmark[3]
  2. Cnut the Great[3]
  3. Estrid Svendsdatter[3]
  4. Gytha
  5. Gunnhild
  6. Santslaue
  7. Thyra



Children


Offspring of Sweyn Forkbeard and Sigrid the Haughty (c964-)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Harald Svendsen (c990-1018) 990 Denmark 1018
Cnut (c990-1035) 990 Denmark 12 November 1035 Shaftesbury, Dorsetshire, England Ælfgifu of Northampton (c990-1036)
Emma of Normandy (c985-1052)
Estrid Svendsdatter of Denmark (c997-c1065) 997 Denmark 1065 Robert I, Duke of Normandy (c1000-1035)
Gytha
Gunnhild
Santslaue
Thyra



Siblings

Residences

References

  1. ^ Svæinn Harallz sunr; Latinized forms of the name Sveinn are Suanus, Suenus, or Sveinus (Haraldi filius). The nickname tjúguskegg is a compound of tjúga "fork" and skegg "beard". Sweyn is so named in Fagrskinna chapters 27 and 41 (ed. Finnur Jónsson 1902–08, pp. 161, 206), in both cases in references to Astriðr dottor Svæins tiuguskægs.
  2. ^ a b Rosborn, Sven (2021). The Viking King's Golden Treasure. About the Curmsun Disc, the discovery of a lost manuscript, Harald Bluetooth´s grave and the location of the fortress of Jomsborg. Rivengate AB. p. 335. ISBN 978-9198678017. https://books.google.com/books?id=CvYuEAAAQBAJ. 
  3. ^ a b c d e Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named weir
  4. ^ a b Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Sawyer2004
  5. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Bolton2009
  6. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named HybelPoulsen2007
  7. ^ The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Manuscripts C, D, and E. Edited by Jebson, Tony. Accessed 18 August 2011.
  8. ^ a b Howard, Ian (2003). Swein Forkbeard's Invasions and the Danish Conquest of England, 991–1017. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. pp. 7–8. ISBN 0851159281. https://books.google.com/books?id=jzXp1yYjq94C. 
  9. ^ Adam of Bremen Gesta II.3. Ed. Schmeidler, trans. Tschan, p. 56
  10. ^ "Svend 1. Tveskæg". Den Store Danske. http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Danmarks_geografi_og_historie/Danmarks_historie/Danmark_f%C3%B8r_Reformationen/Svend_1._Tvesk%C3%A6g?highlight=Svend%20Tvesk%C3%A6g. Retrieved 27 February 2013. 

See Also

Regnal titles
Preceded by
Harald Bluetooth 		King of Denmark
c. 985–1014 		Succeeded by
Harald II
King of Norway
c. 985–995 		Succeeded by
Olaf I
Preceded by
Olaf I 		King of Norway
1000–1014 		Succeeded by
Olaf II
Preceded by
Æthelred the Unready 		King of England
1013–1014 		Succeeded by
Æthelred the Unready



Footnotes (including sources)

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