Horik II Gottfredsson (822-870) was King of Denmark from 854 to 870, succeeding Horik I and preceding Sigfred and Halfdan.
Biography[]
Horik was born in 822, the son of King Horik I of Denmark, and he belonged to the house of Gudfred. He was the only royal child to survive the civil war which resulted in his father's death in 854, and, despite his youth, he still had the strongest claim to the throne. He fought off Rorik Hemmingsson's attempts to claim his throne, but he was forced to give Rorik control of Hedeby in 857 rather than face a Lotharingian invasion. Horik allowed for Christian churches to be built in Denmark, and he sent gifts to the Catholic Church, although he never converted to Catholicism. During his reign, Vikings crossed the North Sea to attack Britannia in 855 and 860. In 868, he had the tax revolt in Ribe crushed by his mercenary Skula Sihtricsson, who collected over 8,000 penningas in tax money for him. However, Skula double-crossed Horik, pocketing the money for himself and using it to equip a small army and sail to England to make his wealth. Horik died in 870 and was succeeded by the sons of Ragnarr Lodbrok.
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