Marriages
Before his first marriage Valdemar had been betrothed to Rixa of Bavaria, daughter of the Duke of Saxony. When that arrangement fell through, he married first Margarethe of Bohemia, also known as Queen Dagmar, in 1205. She was the daughter of Premysl Ottokar, King of Bohemia, and quickly won over the hearts of the Danes. By this marriage, Valdemar had a son, Valdemar, whom he elevated as co-king at Schleswig in 1218. Unfortunately, Prince Valdemar was accidentally shot while hunting at Refsnæs in North Jutland during 1231. Queen Dagmar died in childbirth in 1212. Old folk ballads says that on her death bed she begged Valdemar to marry Kirsten, the daughter of Karl von Rise and not the "beautiful flower" Berengaria of Portugal (Bengerd). In other words she predicted Berengaria's sons' fight over the throne would bring trouble to Denmark.
After Margaret's death, in order to build good relations with Flanders, Valdemar married Berengária of Portugal in 1214. She was the orphan daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal and a sister of Ferdinand, Count of Flanders where she stayed until her marriage. She was beautiful, but so hard-hearted that she was generally hated by Danes until her early death, in childbirth, in 1221. Valdemar's two queens play a prominent role in Danish ballads and myths - Dagmar as the soft, pious and popular ideal wife and Berengária as the beautiful and haughty woman.
Read more about this topic: Valdemar II Of Denmark
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