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to the celebrated Axel Hvide, (Absolon, Bishop of
Roeskilde, afterwards Archbishop of Lund), who, in
1168,
on the spot which Christiansborg Palace now
occupies, erected a castle, for the purpose of keeping
the pirates in awe, which after him was called
Axel-huus. This Prelate afterwards bestowed the
castle and town, with the lands of Amager or Amak,
on the See of Roeskilde. Municipal laws were first
granted to it by Bishop Erlandsen in
1254;
and
royal privileges in
1284
by King Eric Glipping.
The town having now become more important than
any other as a place of royal residence, attempts
were made by several kings to recover it from the
See of Roeskilde. For nearly two centuries, howeverr
these attempts were vain. It was not till the reign
of
Christopher of Bavaria, who, in the year
1443r
selecting Copenhagen as his residence, that anything
like an arrangement was entered into; although,
whatever the exchange might have been, it was
denied by the Bishops, at the election of Christian
the First, the successor of Christopher, that any
had been made. The first King of the Oldenburg-
line , Christian I., seems, however, to have suc
ceeded in that object, the Bishop and Chapter of
Roeskilde having received a remuneration no doubt
sufficiently ample.
But, even after this, protests
were at various times made by the Bishops against
the right and title of the Kings to this city, till the-