Editing Olaf I of Denmark (section)

==Biography==
Olaf was born around 1050, to king [[Sweyn II of Denmark|Sweyn II Estridsson]] and an unknown concubine.<ref name="pajung">Stefan Pajung, [http://www.danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/oluf-hunger-1050-1095/ Oluf Hunger 1050–1095] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719122611/http://www.danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/oluf-hunger-1050-1095/ |date=19 July 2011 }}, [[Aarhus University]], 22 January 2010</ref> During the reign of his elder brother [[Canute IV]], Olaf supposedly served as [[Duke of Schleswig]].<ref name="bricka">[[Carl Frederik Bricka|Bricka, Carl Frederik]], ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. XII [Münch – Peirup], 1898, [https://runeberg.org/dbl/12/0425.html pp.423–425].</ref> In 1085, Olaf was called to a ''[[leding]]'' campaign against [[England]]. Canute was held up and could not join the ''leding'', and as the navy grew weary in waiting for him, Olaf became the spokesperson for its concerns. Canute feared Olaf's support among the [[magnate]]s, while Olaf had misgivings about Canute's dynastic ambition, and saw Canute's son [[Charles the Good]] as a potential rival for power.<ref name="gyldendal">[http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Danmarks_geografi_og_historie/Danmarks_historie/Danmark_f%C3%B8r_Reformationen/Oluf_1._Hunger Oluf 1. Hunger] at Gyldendals Åbne Encyklopædi</ref> Canute blamed Olaf for stirring up trouble, and Olaf was put in chains by their brother Eric, the later king [[Eric I of Denmark|Eric I Evergood]].<ref name="bricka"/> Olaf was banished to [[Flanders]], under the supervision of [[Robert I of Flanders]].<ref name="pajung"/>

===King of Denmark===
Canute was killed in [[St. Alban's Priory, Odense|St. Alban's Priory]] in [[Odense]] in July 1086, following a rebellion in [[Northern Jutland]]. Olaf was proclaimed king at the [[Viborg, Denmark|Viborg]] ''[[Thing (assembly)|landsting]]'' assembly, though he was still in Flanders. An arrangement was made to swap Olaf for his younger brother Niels, the later king [[Niels of Denmark]], to permit Olaf to return to Denmark. Upon the return of Oluf, Eric fled to [[Scania]].<ref name="bricka"/> Olaf was the third of Sweyn's sons to become king of Denmark.<ref name="pajung"/>

Olaf's reign was plagued by several consecutive years of crop failure and famine. According to [[Arild Hvitfeldt]]'s "Danmarks Riges Krønike", in those years springtime was so dry that the fields looked as if they had been burned, and in the fall the skies opened up and rain fell so often that people floated about on pieces of wood to cut the heads off the grain that rose above the water. The hunger of the people grew so great that they dug the earth looking for roots. The wealthy grew thin, and the poor died of starvation. Sickness and starvation soon visited great and small. In the first early attempts of getting Canute [[canonization|canonized]], Olaf was given the nickname "Hunger" in order to magnify the splendor of Canute.<ref name="gyldendal"/> At the time it was claimed that the famine was sent by [[God]] as [[divine punishment]] for the [[sacrilege|sacrilegious]] killing of Canute.<ref name="pajung"/> Chronicler [[Saxo Grammaticus]] described the hunger as a strictly Danish phenomenon, though it has later been described as a general problem of Europe in those years.<ref name="pajung"/><ref name="bricka"/>

Oluf probably cut the Danish ties to the [[Gregorian Reform|Papal Gregorian reform movement]], supporting [[Antipope Clement III|Antipope Wibert of Ravenna]] instead.<ref name="bricka"/> During Olaf's reign, some of Canute's laws were repealed, and the power of the clergy and royalty receded in favour of the magnates. When [[Skjalm Hvide]] sought the support of Olaf in avenging the death of his brother by campaigning against the [[Wends]], Olaf could not muster the power to help him.<ref name="bricka"/> The magnates became more involved in the works of the Church, and Jutlandish magnate [[Archbishop Asser|Asser Svendsen]] was appointed [[Archbishop of Lund]] by Olaf in 1089.<ref name="pajung"/>

===Death===
Olaf died on 18 August 1095 under mysterious circumstances. Some speculate that he may have killed himself or that he was sacrificed on behalf of his luckless people. Saxo Grammaticus writes that he "willingly gave himself to lose the land of its bad luck and begged that all of it (guilt) would fall upon his head alone. So offered he his life for his countrymen."<ref>[http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Olaf_Hunger Saxo Grammaticus about Olaf Hunger] in Danish</ref> It has been postulated that his body was divided among the regions of Denmark as a kind of [[scapegoat]] which was to take away the blood guilt of Denmark and restore it to its previous fortunes.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110721233042/http://www.skeel.info/getperson.php?personID=I3713&tree=ks Oluf I. Hunger King of Denmark]}} at Skeel.info</ref> He was succeeded by his brother [[Eric I of Denmark|Eric I Evergood]].