A short Latin history of the Danish kings to Knud VI's Pomeranian victory of 1185, with the Lex castrensis, Sven's version of the law of the royal household. For 1200 it gives the court's own view of Valdemar I's and Absalon's achievement and of the king's retinue, the backbone of Danish power in the Baltic. Brief, proud and aristocratic.
About this source
- Title
- Brevis historia regum Dacie; Lex castrensis
- Author
- Sven Aggesen
- Author's dates
- born about 1140 to 1150; a layman of a leading Danish family
- Written
- about 1185 to 1188
- Language
- Latin
- Covers
- about 300 to 1185
- Kind
- History
Gertz's edition is standard. Christiansen's translation is not free online.
Where to read it
Editions
Translations
- E. Christiansen (trans.), The Works of Sven Aggesen, Twelfth-Century Danish Historian (London 1992), English; under copyright (not freely online)