Svein (Svend I) "Forked Beard" Haraldsson Family
  Jelling, Denmark


  Svein (Svend I) "Forked Beard Tveskågg" Haraldsson
King of Denmark, and King of England
 b. about 960 Jelling, Veijle, Denmark
d. 2 Feb 1013 Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England
buried:
Cnut.thegreat.985.jpg
Cnut the Great, son of Sven I
photo courtesy of wikipedia.org

1st mistress:  unknown   [Danish Kings - Snorre]


m. Sigrid S. (Storrrada) Skogarsdottir- Toste "the Haughty"
b. 950 Of, Sweden
d.  997 Roskilde, Denmark
buried: Cathedral Roskilde, Roskild, Denmark
her father:  Skoglar Toste
her mother: unknown
1st betrothed: Richard II (Normandie) de Normandie
her 1m.                                            Svein Haraldsson
her 2m.            Erik B. (Bjornsson) King of Sweden
her 3m.                                             Refill Bjornsson
her 4m.                             Tore (Bjarkoey) Torleifson

2m. Swytoslawa Gunhild M. (Polski) Danmar 998
b. 972 Poznan, Lubelskie, Poland
d.   ?
her father:                                Mieszko I Piast
her mother: Dubravka, Princess of P. Bohemia



his father: Harald H. (Gormsson) "Bluetooth" Danmark - King of Denmark (r.940-987)
his mother: Gynrith (Olafsdottir) of Sweden, Denmark and Norway

Child with unknown mistress (the oldest child according to Snorri)
Gytha/Gyda (Svendottir) Sveinsdatter
b. 976 Roskilde, Copenhagen, Denmark d. 1015 Lade, Sor-Trondalag, Norway
 m. in Norway - Erik (Hakonsson) Haakonson Jarl (in Eng. 1023)

Children with Sigrid Skogardottir
Thyra (Svensdottir) Sveynsdottir b. 993 Denmark
 d. 1018 England
 m. Ordulf Wessex
Knut S. (Svendsson) Sveynsson "Cnute the Great" King of Denmark(1013), England (after 1017), Norway(1028) and parts of Sweden
 b. c.985-995
 d. 12 Nov 1035 Shaftsbury, Dorsetshire, England
 1m. Aelfgifu (Northampton) Denmark
2m. Emma (Normandie) England, widow of Aethelred II - July 1017
Stanislava (Svensdottir) Svendsdottir
 b. 995
 d. ?
 unknown
Harald (Svensson) Sveynsson
 b. abt 997 Denmark
 d. 1018
 unknown   
Estrid S. (Svensdottir) Princess of Denmark
 b. abt 997
 d. 9 May 1047 Roskilde, Denmark
buried: Roskilde
 1 betrothed: Richard II of Normandie
2m. Uswulf Ealdoman
3m. Vsevolod (Vladimirovich) Prince of Vlakimir Volynsk
4m. Ulf A. (Thorgilsson) Thrugilson 1021
Gunhilda (Svensdottir) Sveynsdottir
 b. 1000 Denmark
 d. ?
 unknown
 

Note: Swietoslawa, perhaps identical to the legendary Sigrid the Haughty (b. 968/72 - d. ca. 1016), perhaps married firstly with Eric the Victorious, King of Sweden and later wife of Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark by whom she is said to have been mother of Canute the Great, King of Denmark, Norway and England.

There is an hypothesis who stated the existence of another daughter of Mieszko I who was married with a Pomeranian Slavic Prince; she could be the daughter of either Dobrawa or one of his previous pagan wives.[12] Also, exist the theory (apparently recorded by Thietmar and supported by Oswald Balzer in 1895) that Vladivoj, who ruled as Duke of Bohemia during 1002-1003, was another son of Dobrawa and Mieszko I;[1] although modern historians rejected this hypothesis, the Bohemian historiography still supported the Piast parentage of Vladivoj.

"The accession of Sweyn Forkbeard to the Danish throne marks an era in the history of Denmark.  Harold Bluetooth had not been a weak king:  He had enlarged his territories; he had promoted the cause of the Christian faith; he had striven for order and organized life.  But his efforts in this direction had brought him into collision with a set of forces that believed in the old order of things.  In Harold's old age the Danish viking spirit had awakened to new life;  soon the dragons were sailing the seas as of old.  With a kin of the Shielfving type no in the high-seat at Toeskild, these lawless though energetic elements found not only further freedom but royal favour and leadership.  

It would seem that the time had come to wipe away the stain that had come upon the Danish arms at Hjorunga Bay; but n o immediate move was made in that direction.  Earl Hakon was still too strong, and for a decade longer he enjoyed undisputed possession of the Norwegian sovereignty.  Sweyn did not forget the claims of his dynasty, but he bidded his time.  Furthermore, the same decade saw larger plan s developing at the Danish court.  Norway was indeed desirable, but as a field of wider activities it gave no great promise. Such a field, however, seemed to be in sight: the British Isles with their numerous kingdoms, their large Scandinavian colonies, and their consequent lack of unifying interest seemed to offer opportunities that the restless Dane could not afford to neglect" [Larson 15]

In 1002 Ethelred "the Unready or Counseless" conquered several areas of northern England and ordered the massacre of Danish settlers including Svein's relatives. Svein became the King of Denmark in 985 and in 1000 conquered Norway.  He demanded and received payment to keep from invading Ethelred's England. Ethelred had to establish the first tax in England to pay the bribe. Finally Svein had just had enough and he drove Ethelred out to Normandy and Svein now became the King of England as well. The Saxons fought back and did recapture some land. When Svein dies Ethelred makes peace with Svein's son, Canute who fled to Denmark in fear of retribution to become King of Denmark. Ethelred died in 1016 and Canute fights with William Ironside, who lost, and Canute The Great wins the crown of England.  Canute's empire came apart shortly after his death.  England gains independence in 1042 and Norway in 1047. [Durant 4/483-485] 

"As a Prince of Denmark, Cnut (son of Sven I "Forkbeard") won the throne of England in 1016 in the wake of centuries of Viking activity in northwestern Europe. His accession to the throne in 1018 brought the crowns of England and Denmark together. Cnut maintained his power by uniting Danes and Englishmen under cultural bonds of wealth and custom, rather than by sheer brutality. After a decade of conflict with opponents in Scandinavia, Cnut claimed the crown of Norway in Trondheim in 1028. The Swedish city Sigtuna was held by Cnut." [wikipedia.org]
   Forkbeard on the Bayeax w Edward
Swen I "Forkbeard" with Edward the Confessor on the Bayeaux Tapestry abt 1100.
image wikipedia.org

England had been at peace for a hundred years when the Vikings started invading again under Knut/Cnute Svensson "Cnute the Great".

Snorre names "Astrid, a daughter of King Svein Forkbeard" as wife of Earl Ulf.  Morkinskinna names “the lady Ástrídr…sister of two kings, Knútr the Great and Óláfr the Swede” as daughter of “King Sveinn Forkbeard…and Sigrídr en stórráda” who had previously been married to King Eirikr enn sigrsæli” and wife of “Jarl Úlfr sprakalegge [Snorre]

The Chronicon Roskildense records the succession of "Sven, regis Gambliknut ex sorore nepos filius Estrid et Ulf", adding that he had "filios filiasque ex diversis mulieribus" [Danish Kings]

Snorre records the marriage of Eirik and Gyda, daughter of King Svend, in 996 According to Brenner Gyda was either illegitimate or the daughter of one of King Svend's marriages.  In Europäische Stammtafeln, she is King Svend's legitimate daughter, presumably by his first marriage as she is shown as the eldest child.  m (996) EIRIK Håkonsson Jarl, son of HÅKON Sigurdsson Jarl (-in England [1023]).  Regent in Norway 1000-1015.  Jarl in Northumbria 1015.  [Danish Kings]

Elroy's Brief History of Jutland, Denmark


Source:

    Foundation for Medieval Genealogy- Danish Kings
                     hhttp://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/DENMARK.htm
    Jones, Gwyn.  A History of the Vikings, Revised Ed. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, England. 1984
    Larson, Laurence Marcellus. (1868-1938) Canute the Great, 995(circ.)-1035, and the rise of Danish imperialism during the Viking age. New York Putnam. 1912   -  http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38945/38945-h/38945-h.htm
    Nationalmuseet, Jellingprojektet
    Roskell, R. C., L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe, ed. The History of Parliament, the House of Commons 1388-1421, ed. , 1993
    Snorre - translated and referenced - Danish Kings - Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
    wikitree.com

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