Valdemar II the Victorious, Queen Dagmar and Queen Berengária

[norwegianne]

Name: Valdemar II Sejr

English Name: Valdemar II the Victorious

Birth: May 9, 1170

Child of: Valdemar I and Sophia of Polotsk (Minsk)

Reign: 1202-1241

Marriage: 1. Margarethe of Bohemia (Also known as Dagmar) 2. Berengária of Portugal

Children: 1st marriage: Valdemar. 2nd: Eric IV, Abel, Christopher I, and Sophie. As well as some illegitimate children.

Death: March 28, 1241

Throne passed to: Erik IV Plovpenning

Notes:

According to legend, the Danish flag, Dannebrog, first fell from the sky after the battle of Lyndaisse in Estonia. The flag has been in use since. June 15 has officially been called Valdemarsdag (Valdemar's day)

 

[norwegianne]

Name: Dagmar/ Margrethe of Bohemia
Original name Markéta Přemyslovna

Born: Around 1186 in Prague.

Child of: Premysl Ottokar I King of Bohemia and Edel of Meissen.

Died: 24. May 1212

Is one of the most legendary Danish royal consorts. Known as Dagmar Dánská in Czech.

 

[norwegianne]

Name: Berengária of Portugal

Born: 1194

Child of: King Sancho I of Portugal and Dulce Berenguer

Died: 1221

 

[CyrilVladisla]

The escape of King Valdemar II
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo--waldemar-ii-escapes-56766566.html

 

[Blog Real]

Valdemar's first wife, Dagmar of Bohemia, had been immensely popular, blonde and with Nordic looks. Queen Berengaria was the opposite, described as a dark-eyed, raven-haired beauty.

The Danes made up folk songs about Berengaria and blamed her for the high taxes Valdemar levied, although the taxes went to his war efforts, not just to his wife. The great popularity of the former queen made it difficult for the new queen to gain popularity in Denmark. She is noted to have made donations to churches and convents. Berengaria was the first Danish queen known to have worn a crown, which is mentioned in the inventory of her possessions (1225).

In 1221 Berengaria, after giving birth to three future kings, died in childbirth. Queen Berengaria is buried in St. Bendt's Church in Ringsted, Denmark, on one side of Valdemar II, with Queen Dagmar buried on the other side of the King.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berengaria_of_Portugal

Berengária's burial place in Skt. Bendt's kirke, Ringsted.
https://c4.quickcachr.fotos.sapo.pt/i/G2a170fa4/22123502_16ZII.jpeg

Berengaria's plait of hair in St. Bendt's Church, Ringsted.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Bengerd_foto_christian_sand_RGB.jpg

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Engraving of Dagmar of Bohemia (circa 1186-1212) - Queen of Denmark as the first spouse of King Valdemar II
http://www.maryevans.com/history/13418915

 

[CyrilVladisla]

King Valdemar II circa 1220
http://www.maryevans.com/history/10050591

 

[Muhler]

There is a very romantic and sweet medieval ballad about the death of his first queen Dagmar.

As always wherever the king went, the government and state administration went as well, because there was no capital in DK until the 1400s. So Danish king were constantly on the move.
Anyway, one day the king arrived at the castle-town of Skanderborg (not far from where I was born actually) and a messenger waited for him telling him that Queen Dagmar was sick and dying in the oldest town in DK, Ribe, some 100+ km away across Jutland.
King Valdemar rode to Ribe with 100 of his men, but being the devoted husband he was it was a forced ride across the almost track-less Jutlandic moor where hardly anyone lived and as such there were no inns. So by the time he reached Ribe only 15 men remained.
At her deathbed Queen Dagmare tried to persuade him to marry a particular women, as she believed her most suitable as a queen. (Can't remember who.) He didn't though.

The story goes that she was a most beloved queen especially by the poor. (I.e. a good charitable Christian.) - Whether that is true is not known.

The ballad was one of several about Valdemar and Dagmar that was written up to several generations after the event took place, so perhaps there is some truth in it? But it was not a popular ballad, it was a ballad troubadours and minstrel singers sang for the nobility. BTW a troubadour wouldn't be caught dead singing at a market for the common riff raff! A minstrel singer might, if he was in a good mood or drunk or needed money...
The ballad(s) were popular in noble circles at the time. It was about proper Christian behavior, devotion and love. A wife putting the interests of her husband above herself, duty you know.