Abel, Lord of Langeland

Danish Royalty
House of Estridsen


Abel
Children
Valdemar III, Duke of Schleswig
Sophia, Princess of Anhalt-Bernburg
Eric I, Duke of Schleswig
Abel, Lord of Langeland
Grandchildren
Margaret, Countess of Schwerin
Valdemar IV, Duke of Schleswig
Eric Longbone, Lord of Langeland
Margaret, Abbess of Zarrentin
Great Grandchildren
Eric II, Duke of Schleswig
Great-Great Grandchildren
Valdemar III
Helvig, Queen of Denmark

Abel Abelsøn (1252 – 2 April 1279), Lord of Langeland, was the third son of King Abel of Denmark, Duke of Schleswig and younger brother of Valdemar III, Duke of Schleswig and Eric I, Duke of Schleswig. As a member of the ducal family, he held several fiefs in Southern Denmark.

Life

Abel was born in 1252 as the third and posthumous son of King Abel of Denmark, Duke of Schleswig, by his wife, Mechtild of Holstein. In the settlement with his brother Eric after the death of their elder brother Duke Valdemar III, Abel received the cities of Svendborg, Rudkøbing and possibly also Faaborg on the island of Funen, and as fief the island of Langeland. Abel died on Easter Day 1279 in Svendborg and was buried in the city’s Greyfriars’ Abbey.

At his death, he left only a daughter Margaret, who entered the convent of Zarrentin in Mecklenburg and donated her father’s properties to her relatives, the counts of Holstein. They later sold it to King Eric VI of Denmark.