On Good Friday 1158, bishop Asser of Roskilde died, and Absalon was eventually elected bishop of Roskilde on Zealand with the help of Valdemar, as the king's reward for the Hvide family support.

When Valdemar died in 1182, his son succeeded him as Canute VI, and Absalon served as Canute VI's counsellor.

It is assumed that the last eight books were written first, as Saxo drew heavily on Absalon's testament for evidence of the age of Saint Canute and Valdemar I and Archbishop Absalon died in 1202, before the work was completed.

Absalon was an authoritative person whom the pope trusted and gave him rights, but by the time the message reached Uppsala Petrus had already died.

Absalon was an authoritative person whom the Pope entrusted and gave him right, but by this time Petrus had already died.

Absalon first appears in Saxo Grammaticus's contemporary chronicle Gesta Danorum at the end of the civil war, at the brokering of the peace agreement between Sweyn III and Valdemar at St. Alban's Priory, Odense.

Both Absalon and Valdemar narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of Sweyn on this occasion, and escaped to Jutland, whither Sweyn followed them.

Laurits Tuxen: Bishop Absalon topples the god Svantevit at Arkona in 1169.

When Valdemar returned to Denmark, he was convinced into strengthening the Danevirke fortifications at the German border, with the support of Absalon.

It was also Absalon who held the first Danish Synod at Lund in 1167.

Eskil agreed on canonizing Valdemar's father Knud Lavard in 1170, with Absalon assisting him at the feast.

On the accession of Canute VI in 1182, an imperial ambassador arrived at Roskilde to the new king swear fealty to Frederick Barberossa, but Absalon resolutely withstood him.

When Absalon retired from military service in 1184 at the age of fifty-seven, he resigned the command of fleets and armies to younger men, like Duke Valdemar, the later king Valdemar II.

Absalon was interred at Sorø Abbey, and was succeeded as Archbishop of Lund by Anders Sunesen.

* Absalon, archbishop of Denmark, leads the first Danish synod at Lund.

In 1168, the Danish king, Valdemar I, and his army commander and advisor, Bishop Absalon of Roskilde destroyed the Svetovid temple in the hillfort at Cape Arkona, ending both the territorial and religious autonomy of the Rani, their former monarchs became Danish princes of Rügen.

Bishop Absalon topples the god Svantevit at Arkona in 1169

Image: Bishop Absalon topples the god Svantevit at Arkona. PNG | Bishop Absalon topples the god Svantevit at Arkona in 1169.

Absalon | Danish Bishop Absalon destroys the idol of Slavic mythology | Slavic god Svantevit at Cape Arkona | Arkona in a painting by Laurits Tuxen.

He was ordained by the mighty Danish archbishop Absalon in Lund, the primate of Sweden at that time.

Bishop Absalon constructed the city's first castle on the island in 1166-67 at the site where Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament lies today.

It traces its history back to the 12th century when Bishop Absalon founded a monastery at the site, which was confiscated by the Crown after the Reformation, and ever since, on and off, it has served as an educational institution, in a variety of forms, including as a knight academy founded by Christian IV and a venue for higher learning during the Danish Golden Age.

Absalon was born around 1128 near Sorø, Zealand.

In 1162, Absalon transformed the Sorø Abbey of his family from Benedictine to Cistercian, granting it lands from his personal holdings.

In his will Absalon forgives his clerk Saxo a small debt of two and a half marks of silver and tells him to return two borrowed books to the monastery of Sorø.

Sorø was founded in 1161 by Bishop Absalon, later the founder of Copenhagen, and is the site of Sorø Academy ( Danish Sorø Akademi ).

Also built that year was Sorø Klosterkirke, the church where Bishop Absalon and Margaret I of Denmark were buried ( she was later moved to Roskilde Domkirke, Roskilde ).

It was founded in 1161 by Bishop Absalon, later the founder of Copenhagen, and is the site of Sorø Academy ( Danish Sorø Akademi ) and Sorø Klosterkirke, the church where Absalon is buried, along with other notable Danes, including royalty.

Sorø Academy traces its history back to 1140 when Archbishop Absalon founded the Cistercian Sorø Abbey un a remote woodlands setting on the shores of Lake Sorø on the island of Zealand.

* Josquin des Prez composed the motet " Absalon, fili mi " on the occasion of the death of Juan Borgia.

Due to a name which is unusual in Denmark, it is speculated that he was christened on the Danish " Absalon " name day, October 30.

Absalon initially resisted the new position, as he did not want to lose his power position on Zealand, but complied with Papal orders to do so in 1178.

He says in this theory that it might have been Archbishop Andreas Sunesøn's personal ecclesiastical banner or perhaps even the flag of Archbishop Absalon, based on his tireless efforts to expand Christianity to the Baltic countries.

Consisting of sixteen books written in Latin on the invitation of Archbishop Absalon, Gesta Danorum describes Danish history and to some degree Scandinavian history in general, from prehistory to the late 12th century.

Since this book is so large and Absalon has greater importance than King Valdemar I, this book may have been written first and comprised a work on its own.

In 1168, Valdemar and Absalon gained a foothold on the southern shore of the Baltic, when they subdued the Principality of Rügen.

He drew on oral tales of the Icelanders, ancient volumes, letters carved on rocks and stone, and the statements of his patron Absalon concerning the history that the Archbishop had been a part of.

But on Eystein's death Sverre renewed his attacks, and Archbishop Eric had to leave the country and take refuge with Archbishop Absalon of Lund.

According to the Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus, Bishop Absalon of Roskilde built a castle in 1167 on a small island outside Copenhagen Harbour.

Among his works are the monumental Landsoldaten ( 1858 ) in Fredericia and the Isted Lion ( 1862 ) ( originally in Flensburg, over Berlin and Copenhagen and back to Flensburg ), the gold-plated statue of Bishop Absalon on the front of the Copenhagen City Hall

Absalon or Axel ( – 21 March 1201 ) was a Danish archbishop and statesman, who was the Bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and Archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death.

* March 21 – Absalon, Danish archbishop ( b. c. 1128 )