ABSTRACT
The medieval kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden were at very different stages of development in the early twelfth century. Denmark was the smallest, although its boundaries extended far beyond those of the modern country; its southern boundary was the River Eider and it included the provinces of Skåne, Halland and Blekinge in what is now southern Sweden. This territory had been one kingdom for at least a century, but that did not mean that it was politically stable, and for over twenty-five years after 1131 it was disrupted by disputes between rival members of the royal family. These eventually led, in 1157, to the partition of the country between three cousins, but by the end of that year two had been killed and the survivor, Valdemar, was recognized as king throughout the whole of Denmark. He retained the throne and was succeeded in turn by his two sons, Knut (1182–1202) and Valdemar II (d. 1241). They all had to contend with aristocratic opposition and local separatism, but this was to some extent countered by the initial success of their expansionist policy in the southern Baltic at the expense of both Germans and Slavs. In 1215 Valdemar II even conquered Estonia, and established a Danish base at Reval, but this vastly enlarged territory did not long remain under Danish control; by 1227 Valdemar's authority was once again limited to the area over which his father had ruled seventy years earlier.
