Absalon, bishop and
founder of Copenhagen:

1st uncle 20 times removed

 

Lalou and her cousin Camilla at statue of AbsalonWhen 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, Copenhagen had been transformed into a vital military post whose stone fort served as a base for the destruction of the Wendish pirates, as well as a thriving trading centre and important stop-off on the route from Roskilde to southern Sweden.
Absalon was a well educated man, born around 1128 into a powerful Zealand family that had close links to the monarchy. At the king's behest, he began building a stone fort on the site now occupied by Christiansborg Slot in Copenhagen. The building of the fort lit the touch paper for the expansion of Copenhagen that continues unabated to this day.
Absalon died in 1201 and is buried in the church of the family monastery in Sorø.


 

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