Abel, King of Denmark

Abel of Denmark (1218 – 29 June 1252) was Duke of Schleswig from 1232 to 1252 and King of Denmark from 1250 until his death in 1252. He was the son of Valdemar II by his second wife, Berengária of Portugal, and brother to Eric IV and Christopher I.

As Duke of Schleswig, Abel came into conflict with his brother, King Eric IV, whose murder in 1250 he was suspected of orchestrating. Upon taking an oath to clear himself of the allegations, he was elected king. After a short reign, he was killed during a military expedition in Frisia.

Abel's reign was the shortest of any Danish monarch since the 9th century. He founded a line of Dukes of Schleswig - the "Abel family" - which ruled the Duchy of Schleswig until 1375.

Early life

At the election in 1232 of his elder brother Eric as their father King Valdemar II's coruler and heir, Abel was chosen to succeed Eric in his position as Duke of Schleswig.

In 1237 he married Matilda of Holstein, a daughter of Adolf IV, Count of Holstein. As Count Adolf withdrew to a Franciscan friary the same year, Abel spent several years acting as regent for his under age brothers-in-law, John and Gerhard.

Denmark

Denmark (ⁱ/ˈdɛnmɑːrk/; Danish: Danmark [ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊]), officially the Kingdom of Denmark is a country in Northern Europe. The southernmost of the Nordic countries, it is southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark is part of Scandinavia, together with Sweden and Norway. It is a sovereign state that comprises Denmark and two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark proper has an area of 42,924 square kilometres (16,573 sq mi), and a population of 5,707,251 in January 2016. The country consists of a peninsula – Jutland – and an archipelago of 443 named islands, of which around 70 are inhabited. The islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate.

Ø, Denmark

Coordinates: 56°27′32″N 9°37′57″E / 56.45889°N 9.63250°E / 56.45889; 9.63250

Ø is a piece of land in the valley of the Nørreå in the eastern part of Jutland, Denmark. Its name means island (ø in the Danish language) and probably comes from the island-like approach to this piece of land, although it is completely landlocked and surrounded by meadows.

Ø is famous among lexicographers for the extreme brevity of its name: the single letter Øand for the people there.

See also

Sources

Danish sites

Danmark (islet)

Danmark (English: Denmark) is an islet located near Sandvika in the Municipality of Bærum, Norway.

Whilst the original meaning is not exactly verified, the name of the islet reflects Norwegians' (friendly) joking with the relatively small geographical size of Denmark proper. Alike Denmark, this islet is flat, small, and located oversea south of Bærum. The name predates 1814, when the personal union known as Denmark–Norway was dissolved. In a sale of land in the 1780s, it was mentioned that the sale included 'a little island called Denmark' (Danish: en lille ø kaldet Danmark).

References

Literature

External links

Coordinates: 59°53′26″N 10°32′00″E / 59.8906°N 10.5334°E / 59.8906; 10.5334