Battle of Sejerø

The battle of Sejerø was a naval battle fought in 1132, near the Island of Sejerø by the Zealandic coast. A zealandic and scanian fleet under Eric II fought a jutlandic fleet under Magnus the Strong. Eric defeated Magnus completely, all that was salvaged from the defeat was the boat Magnus escaped in, the battle was the first defeat dealt to the Niels-Magnus party.

The Battle of Sejerø
Part of The Danish Civil War
Date1132
Location
Sejerø, Denmark
Result Party of Eric Ericson Victory
Belligerents
 Forces of Eric  Forces of Magnus
Commanders and leaders
 Eric II of Denmark  Magnus the Strong
Strength
Hundreds of ships - More than Magnus Hundreds of ships
Casualties and losses
Minor Very Heavy

Background

After the murder of Canute Lavard, Eric Ericson Canutes brother marched on Jelling to seek retribution, Erics force was ambushed by King Niels I, and then Eric declared himself the rightful King of Denmark. After fleeing from Jutland with what remained of his army he tried to reconquer south jutland, but was repulsed during the siege of Schleswig.[1] Niels then prepared a great invasion fleet to take Zealand, however Christian a lord of Jutland joined forces with Eric and rebelled. Niels split his army in two and had his son lead this half to conquer Zealand while he ended the rebellion in the north, Magnus manned as many ships as possible with the forces he had and sailed for Zealand, however Eric had already landed around Sejerø.[2]

The Battle

Magnus had never commanded a fleet before and this was telling, his fleet was disorganized and spread out, some ships in front of others. When Eric caught wind of this he rallied his men giving inspiring speeches and promising victory, Eric would not assail all of Magnus fleet at once but would destroy portions of the fleet as it arrived, when Magnus heard of what had happened to the frontal portions of his fleet, he immediately anchored and lowered his sails, he gathered his entire fleet packing it tightly.[3] However Eric now outnumbered Magnus, and as their formation was so tightly packed, he managed to surround their entire fleet, Eric was essentially besieging the fleet of Magnus. Brutal fighting ensued but the outcome of the battle was obvious, so the greatest warriors in Magnus fleet pushed towards were the fighting was fiercest and pulled their king away from the front and they managed to break through this "siege", all the fleet besides the one in which Magnus escaped was destroyed.[3]

The Aftermath

Eric had won a great victory, and began plundering northern Jutland, with his ships, however he now heard of his allies defeat and set sail for Zealand, an invasion was now inevitable. Eric had now regained much of the honor he had lost, however he had still not managed to defeat Niels and as Magnus did not set sail with all of the Jutland fleet, the situation could be salvaged.[4]

Sources

Grammaticus, Saxo (1898). Gesta Danorum. Copenhagen: A. Christiansens Kunstforlag

  1. Pajung, Stefan (29 May 2012). "Erik Emune". danmarkshistorien. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  2. Grammaticus, Saxo. Gesta Danorum. A. Christiansens Kunstforlag. p. 343.
  3. Grammaticus, Saxo (1898). Gesta Danorum. Copenhagen: A. Christiansens Kunstforlag. pp. 343–344.
  4. Grammaticus, Saxo (1898). Gesta Danorum. Copenhagen: A. Christiansens Kunstforlag. p. 344.
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