Valdemar the Young

Valdemar (III) the Young ( – 28 November 1231) was a Junior King of Denmark from 1215 until his death. Valdemar was the eldest son and co-ruler of King Valdemar II of Denmark by his first wife, Dagmar of Bohemia. He did not outlive his father so was never a sole monarch. He is sometimes referred to as Valdemar III for example his tombstone reads in "Valdemar the Third, King of Denmark, son of Valdemar the Second". Although Valdemar III is more commonly used to denote a later king, Valdemar of Schleswig. Early life Valdemar was born in 1209. He was the eldest child from his father's first marriage. His mother, Queen Dagmar, died in childbirth in 1212, leaving her husband a widower with a young son; she had been very popular among the Danish people due to her piety and kindness to the common people. King Valdemar remarried two years later to Berengaria of Portugal. From this marriage Valdemar the Young gained four half-siblings: Sophie, Eric, Abel and Christopher. His new stepmother, a beautiful and haughty woman, unpopular and scorned by the Danish people, was a great contrast to Valdemar's mother Dagmar. When Berengaria died in childbirth herself in 1221, King Valdemar did not remarry.