History of Schleswig-Holstein - 13th Century

13th Century

Adolphus II (1128–1164), succeeded in re-conquering the Slavonic Wagri and founded the city and see of Lübeck to hold them in check. Adolphus III (d. 1225), his successor, received Dithmarschen in fee from the emperor Frederick I, but in 1203 the fortunes of war compelled him to surrender Holstein to Valdemar II of Denmark who mandated Albert of Orlamünde, the cession being confirmed in a Golden bull by the emperor Frederick II in 1214 and the pope in 1217, thus provoking the nobles in Holstein. Valdemar appointed his lieutenant in Holstein.

In 1223, King Valdemar and his eldest son were abducted by count Henry I, Count of Schwerin (also known as Heinrich der Schwarze), and held captive in Castle Dannenberg for several years. Count Henry demanded that Valdemar should surrender the land conquered in Holstein 20 years ago and become a vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor who in fact tried to intervene and arrange the release of Valdemar. Danish envoys refused these terms and Denmark declared war. The war ended in defeat of the troops under the command of Albert of Orlamünde at Mölln in 1225, and Valdemar was forced to surrender his conquests as the price of his own release and take an oath not to seek revenge.

Valdemar was released from captivity in 1226 and appealed to Pope Honorius III to have his oath repealed, a request the Pope granted. In 1226, Valdemar attacked the nobles of Holstein, and initially, had success.

On July 22, 1227 the two armies clashed at Bornhöved in Holstein in the second Battle of Bornhöved. The battle ended in a decisive victory for Adolphus IV of Holstein. During the battle the troops from Dithmarschen abandoned the Danish army and joined Adolphus' army. In the following peace, Valdemar II relinquished his conquests in Holstein for good and Holstein was permanently secured to the house of Schauenburg.

King Valdemar II, who had retained the former imperial March north of the Eider, in 1232 erected Schleswig as a duchy for his second son, Abel. Holstein on the other hand, after the death of Adolphus IV in 1261, was split up into several countships by his sons and again by his grandsons (1290): the lines of Holstein-Kiel (1261–1390), Holstein-Pinneberg and Schaumburg (1290–1640) south of the Elbe, Holstein-Plön (1290–1350), Holstein-Rendsburg (1290–1459), and at times also Holstein-Itzehoe (1261–1290) and Holstein-Segeberg (1273–1315), and again 1397–1403), all named after the comital residential cities.