The death of King Olaf II was oddly appropriate, for a king whose reign was typified by peace and stability, passing away quietly in his sleep seemed apt. Since the wedding of Prince Sweyn ten years previously, little had changed in the sleepy Danish kingdom. The expansion of the royal fleet into the North Sea had relieved growing pressure on the treasury and quietened growing dissent among the trading classes. Aside from that though, the 12th century had been a quiet one for the Danish people. However, after the upheavals of the previous 50 years most viewed this as a blessing. Now though, Olaf’s son Sweyn was filling his deceased father’s crown and the wisest of Scandinavian society predicted a major upheaval…

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Aragon suddenly seemed a long way away for Princess Urraca, the cold winds of Jutland were just not found in Navarre and her silken wedding dress provided little protection from the elements. Despite this though the shivers that passed through her were not brought about by the weather, instead they were caused by the nerves that coursed through her system. The alliance between Aragon and Denmark did not seem a natural one and certainly they possessed fundamentally different cultures, although the previous nights ribaldries had lessened the differences somewhat and both sovereigns had pledged eternal friendship and a potential second front if the increasingly expansionist French invaded either small, fiercely independent kingdom. This pledge was to be honoured through this marriage of Urraca to Prince Harald, Sweyn’s son and heir.

Harald was a fine figure of a man and he certainly cut an impressive figure as he entered the town square and towered above the crowds during his wedding procession. Despite this Urraca was nervous, it was rumoured that the Prince had inherited his father’s perversions, and certainly the haggard look on the Queen’s face was testimony to their extent. Her once youthful looks and been dulled and ruined. But, she thought, despite the fear which increasingly dominated her mindset, as looked around the fine, expensive furnishings and cloths which increasingly dominated the trading town of Copenhagen; this strange land was not without its benefits!

Death of King Sweyn (The Trader) 1139-1169