Knud VI Valdemarsson ^{1 2 3}

  General Notes:

Valdemar acknowledged the overlordship of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and accepted his antipope Victor IV (or V), leading Denmark's chief prelate Eskil, archbishop of Lund, to choose exile rather than oppose Pope Alexander III. After Valdemar and Bishop Absalon reneged and acknowledged Alexander in about 1165, Eskil returned to Denmark, confirmed the canonization of the king's father, and anointed his son Canute VI as joint king (1170), inaugurating the hereditary rule of the Valdemars and vitiating the overlordship of Frederick I.

Valdemar was succeeded by his son, Knud VI (reigned 1182-1202).

B.Tompsett calls him Knud IV.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Acceded: King of Denmark, 1182.

Knud married Gertrude of Brunswick, daughter of Henry III the Lion of Saxony and Klementia von Zähringen, in 1171. (Gertrude of Brunswick was born circa 1155 and died on 1 Jul 1196.)