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Svend Tveskæg regerede Danmark, England og nogle dele af Norge.

Han var søn af kong Harald Blåtand og far til Knud den Store.

Omkring år 980 førte han et oprør mod sin far og tog den Danske trone med magt hvorpå han sendte sin far i eksil.

Harald døde ikke længe efter at have tabt slaget mod Svend Tveskæg i ca. år 986 eller 987.

Svend blev konge af det meste af Norge i 1000 efter en troskab med Erik Linnemann.

Ikke længe før han døde i 1013, blev han Englands første danske konge efter mange års krig.

Detaljer om Svends liv bliver ofte anfægtet blandt videnskabsmænd og historikere.

Mange forskellige historiske kilder har modstridende fakta omkring hans liv, så historikere er nød til at give deres egne fortolkninger af disse kilder, mens de kigger på dem alle samlet.

En af de historiske kilder er krønikerne af John af Wallingford.

Disse historier indikerer, at Svend deltog i togter mod England i flere perioder mellem år 1002 og 1012.

Kilden skriver, at han var ude for hævne en massakre på danske indbyggere der var sket i England på St. Brice's Dag i 1002.

Historikere klassificere ofte denne massakre som værende den etniske udrensning, der blev udført af Æthelred den Rådvilde.

Svend kan have været personligt påvirket af disse grusomheder, da man mener, at hans søster Gunhilde kan have været et af ofrene.

Andre hævder, at han kan have deltaget i togter, fordi han var fattig efter at være blevet tvunget til at betale en løsesum.

Efter mange års kampe i England, besejrede Svend London og blev erklæret Englands konge på juledag i 1013.

Han regerede England i blot fem uger før hans død.

----Formal English----

Sweyn Forkbeard and ruled Denmark, England, and some parts of Norway.

He was the son of King Harald Bluetooth and the father of Cnut the Great.

Around the year 980, he led a revolt against his father and forcibly took the throne of Denmark, driving his father into exile.

Harald died not long after losing the battle with Sweyn around 986 or 987.

Sweyn became king of most of Norway in 1000 after an allegiance with Eric of Lade.

Not long before dying in 1013, he became England's first Danish king after many years of war.

The details about Sweyn's life are often contested among scholars and historians.

Many different historical sources provide contradictory accounts of his life, so historians must provide their own interpretations of these sources while looking at all of them together.

One of the historical sources is the chronicles of John of Wallingford.

Those records indicate that Sweyn took part in raids on England during several periods between the years of 1002 and 1012.

The source states that he was avenging the massacre of Danish inhabitants of England on St. Brice's Day in 1002.

Historians generally classify the massacre as being the ethnic cleansing carried out by Ethelred the Unready.

Sweyn may have been personally impacted by the atrocities because it's believed his sister Gunhilde may have been one of the victims.

Others argue that he may have participated in the raids because he was impoverished after being forced to pay a ransom.

After many years of fighting in England, Sweyn defeated London and was declared England's king on Christmas Day in 1013.

He ruled England for just five weeks before his death.

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