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Abel

Type Figure Region Denmark Time 1218–1252 Also known as Abel of Denmark、Abel Valdemarsen、丹麦阿贝尔

King of Denmark (1218–1252), Duke of Schleswig from 1232; at odds with Eric IV, he succeeded after Eric's 1250 murder and fell by the Eider in 1252.

Timeline

  1. 1232–1241Schleswig · Schleswig-HolsteinEnfeoffed as Duke of Schleswig in 1232, he married the daughter of the Count of Holstein and built a strong territorial power on the German border. His strained relations with his brother Eric IV foreshadowed the later struggle for the throne.
  2. 1241–1250Holstein · Schleswig-HolsteinAfter Eric IV's accession, his plow-coin reform and heavy taxation drove Abel to resist royal power in league with Holstein nobles and the church. Tensions escalated through the 1240s; in 1250 Eric IV was murdered at Schleswig, and Abel promptly claimed the succession.
  3. 1250–1252By the Eider River · Schleswig-HolsteinSucceeding in 1250, he ruled Denmark briefly while trying to secure control of the Schleswig–Holstein border. In 1252 he personally led a campaign against the Frisians and fell in battle by the Eider River; the throne passed to his brother Christopher I, and Abel's line never again gained the Danish crown.

Sources