Bishop Absalon

When he first took control of Copenhagen, or Havn as it was then known, in 1167 (the power having been granted by King Valdemar himself), the warrior Bishop Absalon found a small settlement of wattle and daub fishing huts, and little else.

By the time of his death, however, Havn had been transformed into a vital military post whose stone fortress served as a base for the destruction of the Wendish pirates. It also sheltered a thriving trading centre and became an important stop on the route from Roskilde to southern Sweden.

Absalon was a well educated man, born around 1128 into a powerful Sealand family that had close links with the monarchy. At the King's behest he began building a stone fortress on the site now occupied by Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen. The building of the fortress paved the way for the expansion of Havn into Copenhagen and began a development that continues unabated to this day.

Absalon died in 1201 and is buried in the church of the monastery founded by his family in Sorø.