On his return to his own dominions, Valdemar was preparing for another expedition against the Slavonians,—probably to reduce them under his sceptre, and to obtain the same ascendency over them as Henry the Lion had possessed—when death surprised him in Zealand, in the forty-eighth year of his age. Never was monarch more lamented; he was indeed a great and a good one. As a conqueror, and a conqueror over savage enemies, whose humiliation was necessary to the repose of the kingdom, he was celebrated throughout Europe. But he was also a legislator. Three different codes emanated from his authority:—the law of Scania, which was founded on the ancient customs of the inhabitants, was also amplified by new provisions, rendered necessary by an improved state of society. Such as were essentially pagan were rejected; others, pagan in their origin, were easily made applicable to Christian times. This code was published in two parts,—the ecclesiastical and the civil—the former in 1162, the latter in the following year. 2. The Zealand law or code was also founded on the unwritten observances of the inhabitants; which observances were altered, modified, curtailed, or amplified, according to the actual necessities of the period. They were published in 1171, and were also divided into two portions—the civil and the ecclesiastical. These codes, with the addition of the Jutland law, which was added by Valdemar II. form the basis of the present law of Denmark. From the reign of this able monarch, the rights of all classes in the community were more clearly defined. But those of the agricultural class were not improved by the change of circumstances. Prior to Valdemar’s reign even the peasants attended the provincial Thing in arms. They exercised the right of suffrage which they had derived from their pagan ancestors, with as much freedom as the noble. But when feudality made such progress in the kingdom; when compelled to exchange their allodial for vassalitic lands, and to march at the bidding of their temporal or ecclesiastical chief, they lost their noble independence. Yet from evil comes good. Many of them had been unruly subjects; if unable to carry any thing by clamour, they had used their arms with better effect, and through their numerical superiority, they had too often prevailed on the calm wisdom of the old chiefs. Now they were no longer allowed to appear in arms, and the change was a blessing. CANUTE VI. 1182–1202. [Sidenote: 1182.] This prince had been crowned in his father’s lifetime and from his fourteenth year had been admitted to a share in the government. His accession therefore to the undivided sovereignty was expected to pass without opposition. But the people of Scania elected another sovereign—Harald, a grandson of prince Magnus. The contest, however, was short lived; they were reduced, and their ruler compelled to flee into Sweden. [Sidenote: 1182 to 1189.]