Kings and their demesnes · Kingdom of Denmark · as at first light, 1 January 1200

The king in North Jutland

North of the Kongeå the king rules Jutland directly, without a duke between him and the people.

His power there rests on a thin web of royal property and rights rather than on a block of land. The crown's own estates (kongelev), the land that went with the kingship and could not be split by inheritance, were fewer in Jutland than on Zealand, where there was nearly one per herred (lex.dk); the word itself is first recorded in the king's land book of 1231. What the king had in Jutland in 1200 was a scatter of royal farms run by stewards (bryder) and royal officers (ombudsmænd) whose names are not recorded for that year; the royal farm (kongsgård) at Randers (danmarkshistorien); the castle on its island in Skanderborg lake, founded in the 1100s (lex.dk); his towns, with their market dues and tolls and, in the 1100s, mints at Viborg, Horsens and Hjørring (danmarkshistorien, Trap); his right to be entertained on his journeys; the fines of the courts; and the naval levy (leding) of the Jutland herreder.

Above all he needed the Jutlanders' assembly: the landsting of North Jutland at Viborg, where every Danish king had first to be acclaimed and where war, peace, new taxes and the law were settled (lex.dk landsting; Trap). The Jutish Law is not yet written (1241): the old law is spoken at the thing.

Who he is

Name
Canute VI (Knud Valdemarsen)
Title
king of the Danes and the Wends
Since
1182 (crowned co-king in 1170)
Born
about 1163
Family
Son of Valdemar I; widower of Gertrude of Saxony (died 1 July 1197), childless; his brother Duke Valdemar is his heir in fact. Full family in the realm record (dkz).
Confidence
high

en.wikipedia Canute VI; DBL Knud 6.; lex.dk kongelev and Kong Valdemars Jordebog

What it holds

  • the royal estates (kongelev) and royal farms of North Jutland, run by bryder and ombudsmænd (not named for 1200)
  • the royal farm (kongsgård) at Randers, on the Gudenå crossing
  • the castle at Skanderborg on its island in Skanderborg lake (founded in the 1100s; its keeper not named)
  • the king's towns: Ribe (a royal town south of the Kongeå), Viborg, Aarhus, Aalborg, Randers, Horsens, Hjørring and the lesser market places, with their dues and tolls
  • the naval levy (leding) and its ships from the North Jutland herreder
  • the acclamation of kings and the making of law at the landsting of North Jutland at Viborg; the syssel assembly of Vendsyssel at Hjørring
  • the king's hunting islands in the Kattegat and the Belts (named in the island list of the 1231 land book; in 1200 not pinned)

How it was acquired

Inherited with the kingship; the kongelev probably goes back to the 1000s (lex.dk).

Allies and rivals

The Jutland bishops (Ribe, Viborg, Aarhus, Børglum: Church map) and the great men of Jutland (Jutland's great men). No rival claimant in Jutland is known for 1200: the last pretenders of the old royal lines were dead or, like Bishop Valdemar, in prison.

How things stand that morning

North Jutland is quiet and loyal on 1 January 1200. The king's officers and the royal farms are not named for that winter. The king's own whereabouts that morning are not pinned.

Wealth

Rents in kind from the royal farms, market dues and tolls of the towns, the fines of justice, the levy, the Limfjord herring at Aalborg, and the export trade in horses, cattle, hides, wool and grain through Ribe. No figures.

Military

The North Jutland leding fleet and the levy on land; Skanderborg castle; Viborg's rampart and ditch (1150-51); Aarhus's old rampart. No figures.

Threats

  • none pressing in Jutland itself; the danger lies on the Eider (see Duke Valdemar)

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 12 November 1202 (after this year)Canute dies; Valdemar succeeds without prior designation.Depends on: natural death Stopped by: play

Places of note

  • Skanderborg castle: royal castle on a small island at the west edge of Skanderborg lake, founded in the 1100s
  • Royal farm at Randers: the king's farm (kongsgård) at the Gudenå crossing; a mint about 1080
  • Landsting of North Jutland: the Jutlanders' assembly where kings were acclaimed
  • Hjørring: the syssel assembly of Vendsyssel

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: No royal steward, officer or castle keeper in Jutland is named for 1200 in the sources used. The picture of the king's estates rests on the land book of 1231 and on general works; Skanderborg's date is only 'the 1100s'.

On the map: The king's estates were scattered farms and rights among the farmers' land and the Church's; only Skanderborg castle is drawn. The rest of North Jutland is the king's realm without being his estate; the towns are separate records.

Primary sources for Denmark

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

11 more in the sources library for Scandinavia.

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia: Canute VI of Denmark
  2. Dansk Biografisk Leksikon: Knud 6.
  3. Den Store Danske (lex.dk): kongelev
  4. Den Store Danske (lex.dk): Kong Valdemars Jordebog
  5. Den Store Danske (lex.dk): landsting
  6. Den Store Danske (lex.dk): Skanderborg Slot
  7. Danmarkshistorien (lex.dk): Randers
  8. Danmarkshistorien (lex.dk): Horsens
  9. Trap Danmark (lex.dk): Viborgs historie

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.