Waldensians 735(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1931); Janet L.
Nelson, Charles the Bald(New York: Longman, 1992).
Waldemar I the Great(Valdemar)(1131–1182)war-
rior, king of Denmark
Heir to an ancient royal line in DENMARK, Waldemar was
the son of the duke of Schleswig, Canute III Lavard (d.
1131). Born about 1131, perhaps on January 14, 1131, he
became a contender to the throne on the death of King
Erik the Lamb in 1156/7. By 1157 he had defeated his
rivals and become the undisputed ruler and quickly con-
solidated his rule. In 1169 he captured an island
stronghold of the Wendish pirates destroyed their idols,
and forcibly Christianized them. Waldemar acknowl-
edged the suzerainty of Emperor FREDERICKI BARBAROSSA
in 1162, since he was dependent on Frederick’s help
against his aggressive German neighbors such as HENRY
THELION. After Henry’s death in 1180, Waldemar and
Frederick met in 1182 and arranged a double marriage
between their children significantly improving the links
of Denmark with the German emperor. Shortly before his
death, one of his officials suppressed a serious uprising of
some provinces opposing his heavy taxation. Waldemar
died about May 9–12, 1182.
Further reading:John H. S. Birch, Denmark in His-
tory(London: J. Murray, 1938); Niels Skyum-Nielsen and
Niels Lund, Danish Medieval History: New Currents
(Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1981).
Waldemar II the Conqueror(Valdemar)(1170–1241)
king of Denmark
Born May 9, 1170, he was the second son of WALDEMARI
and became the duke of Schleswig in 1188. He succeeded
his brother, Canute IV (VI) (r. 1182–1202), in 1202 after
having already captured the county of Holstein. In
exchange for Waldemar’s support of his holding the
imperial title, the emperor Otto IV (d. 1218) acknowl-
edged his rule over German lands north of the Elbe River,
including important trading cities such as LÜBECK. In
return, Waldemar then temporarily recognized Otto as
the German emperor, only to switch his allegiance to
FREDERICKII later. Waldemar also gained the support of
Pope INNOCENTIII, after he led a Crusade against the
pagan Estonians and the Pomeranians in 1206 and 1210.
However, at the height of his power and the greatest
extent of his realm in 1223, he and his sons were kid-
napped by a guest, a certain Count Henry of Schwerin.
He was released only after paying a crippling heavy ran-
som and surrendering Northalbingia and most of his
Wendish conquests in 1225, when his vassals and the
Danish nobility had refused to go to his aid. He was later
defeated by Henry at the Battle of Bornhöved in 1227 but
was able to keep control of most of LIVONIAor Estonia by
the Compact of Stensby made with the Knights of the
Sword in 1238. Among the domestic reforms carried out
toward the end of his reign was the great codification of
Danish laws called the Jutland Code in 1241. He died on
March 28, 1241, in Vordingborg in Denmark.
Further reading:J. H. S. Birch, Denmark in History
(London: J. Murray, 1938); Palle Lauring, A History of
Denmark,trans. David Hohnen, 5th ed. (Copenhagen:
Høst & Søn, 1981); William L. Urban, The Baltic Cru-
sade, 2d (Chicago: Lithuanian Research and Studies
Center, 1994).Waldensians (Waldenses, Poor of Lyon) The Wald-
ensians comprised a diverse sect that developed out of
the followers of Peter Waldo (d. 1217) and were initially
called the Poor of LYONbut themselves never used the
name Waldensians. Over the centuries this term referred
to diverse religious sects with many different and chang-
ing ideas that fluidly diverged in many aspects from
mainstream medieval Catholicism—especially among
later groups called by this name in GERMANYand ITA LY.
The term was convenient for inquisitors who were trying
to label and correct dissenters.
Peter Waldo, traditionally credited with the original
initiative for the Waldensian movement was a rich mer-
chant of Lyon, who converted to a religious life in the
early 1170s. He gave away his wealth for Christ and at
the same time became a preacher of the GOSPELS, gather-
ing around himself LAITY and clerics. He wanted to
remain there and reform the church but was expelled
from the city. Not a dualist, unlike many contemporary
dissidents he seems to have tried to preach the gospel
outside the authority of the church and was critical of
the worldliness of the CLERGY. Not all of his followers
were so eager to remain orthodox. The movement was
critical of the SEVEN SACRAMENTS, of the holiness and
necessity of the priesthood, of the destiny of souls after
death, and of the cult of the saints and RELICS.
By 1200 the Waldensian movement already encom-
passed a diversity of orientations about the meaning of
POVERTYto the church and to good Christians. They were
condemned and banned at the Third Lateran Council of
1181–85 and Pope INNOCENTIII launched a CRUSADE
against them in 1209. They meanwhile developed a cleri-
cal organization and grew and survived persecutions in
isolated areas, such as in the Alps and BOHEMIA, where
they later ultimately merged with the followers of John
HUS. They were deemed among the most dangerous of
heretical groups because they lived piously and believed
in much of the orthodox and loudly attacked creed the
institutional church, its rituals, and its clergy.
See alsoALEXANDERIII, POPE.
Further reading:Euan Cameron, The Reformation of
the Heretics: The Waldenses of the Alps, 1480–1580
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984); Euan Cameron,