Rörik I.

Rörik I. († 844 or 846 ) was a Danish Viking prince who was expelled from Denmark with his brothers after long wars of succession and then marauded in Friesland and in the area of ​​the Rhine estuary and was even briefly feudal lord of Emperor Lothar as Count von Kimmen in Friesland. His father Halfdan II († around 810) was ruler of Haithabu from 804 to 810 .

Battle for Denmark

Rörik and his brothers ( Anulo , X 812; Ragnfrid (Reginfrid), X 814; Hemming , X 837; and Harald Klak , slain 852) belonged to a king Gudfred (Gudrød, Göttrik) who was murdered with the descendants of 810 for supremacy in Jutland competing branch of the same sex. After the death of Gudfred's nephew and successor Hemming in 812, the brothers initially succeeded in seizing power in Jutland . After that, however, they were involved in devastating wars of succession against Gudfred's sons until they were finally expelled from Denmark in 826 or 827. After the death of Hemming, who had driven Gudfred's five sons from Denmark, a bitter succession dispute broke out. The two competitors were Sigifrid II, a nephew of Gudfreds and grandson of Siegfried I, and Rörik's brother Anulo. Both opponents fell during the bloody dispute (Sigifrid 811 and Anulo 812), and so Anulos brothers Harald Klak and Ragnfrid (Reginfrid) succeeded in establishing themselves as common kings of Jutland. It is unclear whether Rörik also became co-king or only managed a sub-area as a sub-king. In 813 the brothers renewed the peace that Hemming had made with Charlemagne in 811 , in which the Eider was established as the border between the Franconian and Danish empires, and their brother Hemming, who had lived as a hostage in the Franconian Empire , returned to Denmark . As early as 814, however, the four brothers were chased away after violent fighting by the sons of Gudfred who had returned from Swedish exile with a Swedish-Danish contingent. Although they returned with an army, they were unable to regain control. Both Rörik's brother Ragnfrid and Gudfreds son Gottfried died in these battles. Harald Klak, Hemming and Rörik fled to the Franconian Empire.

Friesland

While Harald Klak, who was baptized in Mainz in 826, with the support of Emperor Ludwig the Pious , managed to gain a foothold in Jutland at least twice (815–817 and 821–826) and to act there as ruler or sub-king, it seems During this time, Rörik was mainly concerned with raids and conquests in Friesland. Harald and Hemming were also finally expelled from Denmark in 826/827. Harald had to be content with a fiefdom given to him by Ludwig in Friesland ( Rüstringen ); Hemming received Walcheren as a fief and fell there in 836.

After the death of Ludwig the Pious in 840, Rörik and Harald supported Ludwig's son Lothar I in a dispute with his brothers Ludwig the German and Charles the Bald . In return, Rörik received the district of Kimmen / Kinnin in Friesland and Harald the island of Walcheren as a fief. If Lothar had expected or hoped to be able to use their fighting power with the formal enfeoffment of the Danish invaders at the mouth of the Rhine and at the same time prevent further raids in the north of his empire, he was mistaken. He therefore soon withdrew Rörik's fiefdom, but this only provoked further Danish invasions. In the ongoing fighting, Rörik is said to have died around 844 or 846 near Walcheren.

progeny

Rörik's son Knut had probably already gone to northern England with the Great Pagan Army of the Danish Vikings, was involved in devastating civil wars and became king of Jorvik (York) in 894 .

Web links

• Rörik I., at Genealogy Middle Ages