Baby

Absalon founded new churches and monasteries, supported religious orders like the Augustinians, and promoted the creation of schools. By the time of his death in 1201, Denmark had evolved into a powerful kingdom of the north, and København (the Danish name of Copenhagen to this day) was a fortified town with a protective castle and at least two churches.

The new church, Vor Frue Kirke built in 1200 outside the boundaries of the protective wall, became a focal point of a new town with its very own fortifications that would outgrow the initial core. Before his death, Absalon granted the heritage of Havn to the Bishopric of Roskilde, at a time when the bishops of Denmark acted as kings in all but name in the territories that were under their control.

The city grew rapidly based on the bishopric’s political stature, the protection provided by the castle, the defensive walls, and its thriving economy of the fishery. The town’s growing importance turned it into a bone of contention between bishops and kings, starting from 1245 when King Erik Plovpenning took possession of the city. In 1251 Bishop Jacob Erlandsen won it back. Three years later he gave his citizens their first city charter.

The grip contest between the two institutions intensified in the latter half of the 13th century, with the bishop’s men prevailing in the city of Copenhagen, after a series of battles and a suppressed rebellion in the 1290s. Internal conflicts left Denmark vulnerable to external enemies like the Norwegians and the German Hanseatic League which started to dominate the trade in the Baltic Sea.

The League’s fortitude spurred the need for a new set of wall fortifications for Havn, around the year 1290. The daily matters of the city at the time were handled by a council of 4 to 6 members appointed by the bishop, usually merchants who served for a lifetime while the bishop’s delegate was also the city bailiff, the alpha man in a one-man rule.