At what time in history did Copenhagen become the capital of Denmark?

Answer 1

Nobody knows. It has traditionally been said that it was founded by the bishop Absalon in 1167, but that is wrong. He build a fortress/castle and seriously beefed up the fortifications, but the town had been there long before he was even born.

Recent excavations in connection with metro construction have revealed houses, wells and modest ramparts from the early 11th century, and due to the area involved they do probably not even represent the very beginning of the settlement.

Answer 2

Copenhagen is in Denmark...........

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... which of course is a precondition ;-) , but one should also consider that Copenhagen by the mid 15th century had become the biggest city and trading place in Denmark, so it was important for the King to gain control over it. Since 1167 it had belonged to the Church. Before the time when the King moved his main residence to Copenhagen, it had been in Roskilde some 30 kilometers to the west, but Roskilde was loosing status for a number of reasons (like the city ofLund becoming the seat of the archbishop back in the 12th century, partial blocking of the habour etc).

The key to Copenhagen's growth was its location with a natural, protected habour, its role as a ferry connnection to the easten third' of Denmark (Skåne, in present day Sweden) and not least it's proximity to the herring markets. In medieval Catholic Europe the dried saltet, herring (a fish) from Øresund (=the water outside Copenhagen) was a standard commodity known and appreciated by everybody who couldn't eat meat during fasting / Lent. The well organised German Hansa provided the salt for the herring and transported it in barrels to the European markets, so there was a competition between Danish and German interesents in this huge business. By taking control over Copenhagen the Danish king could get a stronger position for this competition. [...which BTW twice lead the Germans to besige and eventually demolish the 'Castle/Fortress' of Copenhagen]

Answer 3

Copenhagen had by the mid 15th century become the biggest city and trading place in Denmark, so it was important for the King to gain control over it. Since 1167 it had belonged to the Church. Before the time when the King moved his main residence to Copenhagen, it had been in Roskilde some 30 kilometers to the west, but Roskilde was loosing status for a number of reasons (like the city of Lund becoming the seat of the archbishop back in the 12th century, partial blocking of the harbor, etc).

The key to Copenhagen's growth was its location with a natural, protected harbor, its role as a ferry connection to the eastern third of Denmark (Skåne, in present day Sweden), and not least its proximity to the herring markets. In medieval Catholic Europe the dried salted herring (a fish) from Øresund (the water outside Copenhagen) was a standard commodity known and appreciated by everybody who couldn't eat meat during fasting / Lent. The well organized German Hansa provided the salt for the herring and transported it in barrels to the European markets, so there was a competition between Danish and German interests in this huge business. By taking control over Copenhagen the Danish king could get a stronger position for this competition.

(This led the Germans to twice besige and eventually demolish the castle fortress at Copenhagen.)

Answer 4

Nobody knows. It has traditionally been said that it was founded by the bishop Absalon in 1167, but that is wrong. He build a fortress/castle and seriously beefed up the fortifications, but the town had been there long before he was even born.

Recent excavations in connection with metro construction have revealed houses, wells and modest ramparts from the early 11th century, and due to the area involved they do probably not represent the very beginning of the village.

I know that's not what you are asking about, but just FYI : people have been living there since the bronze age - but you can not call that a village, let alone a town - it's just small settlements.

Answer 5

Copenhagen, which was originally a Viking village, became the capital of Denmark in the 15th century. It became an important part of the country due to it's harbour.

Answer 6

Copenhagen was created in 10##.

Answer 7

1443