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Scandinavia's Realm of...
Jylland
The land of the Danes
The Danes were first mentioned in the 6th century by Jordanis in his text De origine actibusque Getarum (The Origin and Deeds of the Goths) and also by Prokopios, a historian from the Eastern Roman Empire of the same century. Jordanis clamed that the Danes had originated from the Svear, but his claim has however never been proven.
The first time that the name of the Danish as well as the land of Denmark were mentioned in written history was however in archbishop Ansgars letters, written sometime between 834 and 865 A.D. as well as in Pope Nicolaus I’s bull that established Ansgar as archbishop and missionary of the Danes and Svear. During the Viking era the Dane king Knut The Great established his realm in and around the Baltic Sea which also stretched as far as what would become England and southern Norway. His kingdom did not survive long after his death however and its division marked the end of the Viking age of the land. During medieval times the realm was however vast under the rule of kings Valdemar Sejr and Valdemar Atterdag, conquering parts of the Baltic, Gotland and future north Germany. In the year 1397 the Union of Kalmar was formed by Queen Margareta I and her stepson Erik av Pommern. This attempt to unite the Baltic countries was however not very successful nor very popular, most of all by the Swedes whom finally left the Union in 1523 when Gustav Vasa came to power. During the mid 1600’s Denmark finally lost its eastern lands, Skåne, Halland and Blekinge to the new Baltic power Sweden. 
Jylland Map of Viking Ring Castles
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