Reign 1156–1157 Name Helena Sweden Died fl. 1158
Sweden Place of death Sweden | Burial Vreta Abbey Predecessor Sverker I of Sweden Father Sverker I of Sweden | |
Mother Benedicta Ebbesdotter of Hvide Spouse Canute V of Denmark (m. 1156) Parents Sverker I of Sweden, Ulvhild Hakansdotter Similar People Sophia of Minsk, Sweyn II of Denmark, Boleslaw III Wrymouth | ||
Helen (Swedish: Helena or Elin - 1130s – fl. 1158), is the assumed name of a medieval Swedish princess and Danish queen, Queen consort of King Canute V of Denmark. The date of her birth is not known; her father was King Sverker I of Sweden and her mother has been assumed to be Sverker's first spouse, Queen Ulvhild.
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Identity
During the period 1146-1157 the Danish kingdom was split between two rival kings, Canute V and Sweyn III. In 1154, Canute allied with his kinsman Valdemar, the future King Valdemar the Great, and sought support with his stepfather Sverker I of Sweden. During his stay he was engaged with a daughter of Sverker, while Valdemar betrothed Sverker's stepdaughter Sophia of Minsk. The name of Canute's fiancée is not mentioned in the chronicles. However, it has been assumed by modern research that her name was Helen, also called Elin. The basis for this conclusion is the Necrologium Lundense which mentions an Elena Regina with the death date 31 December. Since no other Danish queen of that name is known, Sverker's daughter is likely meant. According to another hypothesis she may be identified with a non-official semi-legendary saint called Helen who was venerated in Sweden and, apparently, Denmark.
Brief queenship
At the end of 1156, Canute V traveled to Sweden to console his mother after the assassination of King Sverker. At the same time he picked up his Swedish bride. Thus she left Sweden for a Danish queenship that would turn out to be brief and tragical. In 1157, Canute and Valdemar attended a feast of reconciliation in Roskilde with Sweyn III. During the feast, Sweyn's men fell over his two rivals and Canute was murdered, while Valdemar managed to slip away. Sweyn was killed in turn in the same year. Canute's queen returned to Sweden after the incident. A 16th-century copy of a medieval list of donations says that a Queen Helena donated land in Slaka parish to Vreta Abbey in Östergötland, then entered the abbey as a nun. On the basis of this, some historians assume that Canute's queen withdrew from the world shortly after her husband's murder, in about 1158, joining her sister Ingegerd (d. 1204) who was the prioress of Vreta.