The Church and Currency
On the northern edges of the relatively recent Holy Roman Empire, with its roots in Charlemagne's conquests about two hundred years prior to Sweyn's time, Sweyn Farkbeard had coins made with an image in his likeness. The Latin inscription on the coins read, "ZVEN REX DÆNOR", which translates as "Sven, king of Danes".
Sweyn's father, Harald Bluetooth, was the first of the Scandinavian kings to accept Christianity officially, in the early or mid-960s. According to Adam of Bremen, an 11th-century historian, Harald's son Sweyn was baptised Otto, in tribute to the German king Otto I, who was the first Holy Roman Emperor. Farkbeard is never known to have officially made use of this Christian name. He did not use it on the coins he proudly sent forth, and when he was given the English crown by the Witenagemot of Anglo-Saxon nobles, in 1013, he took the crown as king Sweyn.
Read more about this topic: Sweyn Forkbeard
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