Waldemar IV definition of Waldemar IV in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Waldemar IV (Valdemar Atterdag), c.1320–1375, king of Denmark (1340–75). He became king of a land completely dismembered by foreign rulers, but his ambition, unscrupulousness, and military ability enabled him to unite his kingdom by 1361. Waldemar IV married his daughter Margaret I Margaret I, 1353–1412, queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, daughter of Waldemar IV of Denmark. She was married (1363) to King Haakon VI of Norway, son of Magnus VII of Norway and Sweden.
..... Click the link for more information. to Haakon VI, king of Norway, in an effort to unite Denmark and Norway. He interfered in Germany on behalf of his kinsman, the margrave of Brandenburg. His conquest of Skane, in violation of a treaty with the Swedish king, gave him control of the lucrative fishing industry, and his defeat (1362) of the Hanseatic League Hanseatic League (hăn'sēăt`ĭk, hăn'zē–), mercantile league of medieval German towns.
..... Click the link for more information. secured him temporary possession of Gotland Gotland (gŏt`lənd), Swed. Gotlands län, county (1995 pop.
..... Click the link for more information. . In 1368, however, the Hanseatic towns, Mecklenburg, Sweden, and Holstein formed a coalition against him. Defeated, Waldemar was forced to consent (1370) to the humiliating Treaty of Stralsund, which granted freedom of trade in Denmark to the Hanseatic League. He was succeeded by Margaret's son, Olaf, under his parents' regency.

Bibliography

See F. Pratt, The Third King (1950).