Treaty of Heiligen

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Treaty of Heiligen

The Treaty of Heiligen was a peace agreement between Danish King Hemming and the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne, recorded in the Royal Frankish Annals for the year 811. After Danish King Gudfrid (also called Godofrid) held talks with Frankish nobles in 809 beyond the Elbe at Badenfliot, tensions between the Danes and Franks remained. In 810 Gudfrid led raids against Frisia and boasted that he wanted to fight Charlemagne in open battle. Before Charlemagne could respond, Gudfrid was said to have been killed by one of his own followers.

Hemming, Gudfrid’s successor, offered peace to Charlemagne, but the treaty could not be sealed by oaths until the following spring, when roads reopened after a harsh frost. Twelve magnates from each side met on the River Eider at a place called Heiligen, exchanged gifts, and agreed to peace.

The next year Hemming died, and the Danes fell into civil war. Some later claims say the treaty fixed the southern boundary of Denmark at the Eider River, but contemporary sources do not support this.