Haakon VI of Norway - Danish Succession

Danish Succession

On 24 October 1375, Valdemar succumbed to illness and died at Gurre Castle in Zealand. The new monarch would have to be elected by the Danish Council of the Realm and any potential candidate had to be approved by the Hanseatic League. As Valdemar left no immediate clear successor to the throne, two candidates were put forward for the election: Haakon and Margaret appointed their only son, Olav, as a claimant to the throne. In opposition to this, Henry of Mecklenburg (the son of Duke Albert II of Mecklenburg) and Ingeborg of Denmark (another daughter of Valdemar) in turn appointed their son, Albrecht, as a rival claimant. Haakon, having already lost a substantial portion of his Swedish realm to the Germans, would go to great and costly lengths to assure his son's election as the new King of Denmark. To accomplish this, Haakon borrowed large sums of money and offered it to the Hanseatic League in return for the League's neutrality in the upcoming election, which they promptly accepted. In addition to this, the Danish Council of the Realm was more inclined to a potential union and alliance with Norway, largely because of anti-German sentiments within the Council, and the general reluctance to have a second German ruler in Scandinavia. On 3 May 1376, Olav was elected as the King of Denmark in Slagelse, succeeding his grandfather. The election proved to be a major victory for Haakon and his foreign ambitions, curtailing the German influence while greatly expanding his own over much of Scandinavia.