User:Tinkaer1991/History of Denmark (700–900)

The History of Denmark from 700 to 900 AD. (Danmarkshistorien fra år 700 til 900) encompasses the establishment and consolidation of an early Danish kingdom throughout the 8th century and its first political, diplomatic, and military interaction with Western Europe. However, after the assassination of King Gudfred in 810, the kingdom would face internal succession and civil wars and would not recover until the reign of the Knýtlinga in the first half of the 10th century.



Establishment of the kingdom
It is uncertain and disputed among scholars when Denmark was unified. However, most agree that a Danish monarchy was already in existence at the time of the first Frankish missionary attempt to Denmark in the early 8th century by Saint Willibrord. In the Life of St. Willibrord, a Danish king named Ongendus (later identified with the Danish Angantyr) is said to have been "more savage than any wild beast" and "harder than stone". Archeological evidence supports the idea of a unified Denmark in the 8th century: Major defensive and infrastructural projects like the Kanhave Canal on the island of Samsø, the extensions on the Dannewerk on the southern frontier, a 57-meter-long post-build road north of Varde, and the first urban societies such as Ribe and Arus all indicate the number of resources and level of organization this early Danish monarch possessed.