| Boedil Thurgotsdatter | |
|---|---|
| Queen consort of Denmark | |
| Tenure | 1095–1103 |
| Died | 1103 |
| Burial | Mount of Olives, Jerusalem |
| Spouse | Eric I of Denmark |
| Issue | Canute Lavard (1096–1131), prince and Catholic saint |
| Father | Thurgot Fagerskind |
| Mother | Thorgunna |
Boedil (Bodil) Thurgotsdatter (died 1103) was a Danish queen, queen consort of King Eric I of Denmark.
Boedil was the daughter of the Danish Earl Thurgot Fagerskind and Thorgunna and the sister of Svend Thrugotsen. Her grandfather, called Galicieulv in the Knytlinga Saga , was famous as a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Her family is believed to be connected to the viking families in Northumberland in England, and as a queen, she is listed as a benefactor to the bishopric of Durham. Both she and her spouse were descendants of king Sweyn I of Denmark.
She is believed to have been married to Eric before 1086, as she and her husband lived in exile in the Swedish court during the reign of King Olaf of Denmark (1086–1095). Contemporary chronicles praise her beauty and character. Saxo praised her for her tolerance of her husband's constant adultery, and it was claimed that she even helped to do the hair for his mistresses.
In about the year of 1100 she accompanied her husband on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He travelled by horse, and she by carriage. Eric became sick and died of fever in Paphos in 1103, but Bodil continued on the pilgrimage and managed to reach Jerusalem later that year. [1] She died there, and was buried on the Mount of Olives, [1] or at its foot in the Valley of Josaphat.
In 1170, king Valdemar introduced Christian succession to the kingdom of Denmark, and Boedil was declared the only "true wife" of her spouse and the mother of the ruling house of Denmark, and she was given a saintly appearance as such. According to the law of the church, however, her marriage would still have been illegal, as she and her spouse were related, which was therefore long ignored in history, and she was long portrayed as a half sister to the German Roman emperor Henry,[ which? ] and as such was to have been taken as a war prize by Eric.[ clarification needed ] This history revision can be seen as a sign of the new law which separated the status of children born in and out of wedlock.[ citation needed ]
Sweyn II Estridsson Ulfsson was King of Denmark from 1047 until his death in 1076. He was the son of Ulf Thorgilsson and Estrid Svendsdatter, and the grandson of King Sweyn I Forkbeard through his mother's line. He was married three times, and fathered 20 children or more out of wedlock, including the five future kings Harald III Hen, Canute IV the Saint, Oluf I Hunger, Eric I Evergood, and Niels.
Eric I, also known as Eric the Good, was King of Denmark following his brother Olaf I Hunger in 1095. He was a son of Sweyn II. His mother's identity is unknown. He married Boedil Thurgotsdatter.
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Princess Louise of Denmark and Norway was born to Frederick V of Denmark and Louise of Great Britain. Her eldest daughter, Marie of Hesse-Kassel, was the wife of Frederick VI of Denmark.
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Ingrid Ragnvaldsdotter was born a member of the Swedish royal family, became a member of Danish royalty by marriage and later was Queen consort of Norway as the spouse of Harald IV of Norway. Married four times, Ingrid had a number of children who played prominent roles in Swedish and Norwegian history.
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Estrid Svendsdatter of Denmark, was a Danish princess and titular queen, a Russian princess and, possibly, duchess of Normandy by marriage. She was the daughter of Sweyn Forkbeard and perhaps Gunhild of Wenden and half-sister of Cnut the Great. By Ulf Jarl, she was the mother of the later King Sweyn II Estridson and Beorn Estrithson. The dynasty that ruled Denmark in 1047–1412 was named after her. Though never a ruler or wife of a king, she was known in Denmark as queen during her son's reign.
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Tyra of Denmark was a 10th-century Danish princess. She was the spouse of both King Olav I of Norway and of Styrbjörn Starke, prince of Sweden.
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