king, should remain as hostages; that all the domains between the Elbe and the Eyder should be ceded to the empire; that all the Slavonic conquests should be renounced except the isle of Rugen; that Valdemar should swear never to attempt the reconquest of the territories now abandoned. [Sidenote: 1226 to 1238.] On his return to his own states, Valdemar applied to the pope to be released from the oath he had taken, and for the restoration of his hostages; promising that if the application were successful, he would join the crusade. In vain did the pope interfere; beyond the release from his oath, he obtained no advantage. There were too many interested in the cause of count Henry to leave him thus exposed to regal or papal vengeance. Adolf of Schawenburg, Albert duke of Saxony, the archbishop of Bremen, the prince of Werle—all had profited by the spoil, and all had troops ready to defend their usurpations. In great wrath Valdemar took the field; but his good fortune had left him for ever; and after many fruitless, however ruinous, efforts, he was compelled to make peace with his enemies, and to pay money for the ransom of his hostages. The loss of Lubeck and of all Dithmarsh grieved him more perhaps than the rest; for Lubeck was already a rich and a populous city, the centre of a large commerce. Equally fruitless were his endeavours to recover the Slavonic provinces. They were in the power of the bishop of Riga, and of the Teutonic knights, who could always depend on the favour of the pope and that of the emperor. Revel and a small district of Livonia were at length restored to him. [Sidenote: 1238 to 1241.] During the rest of his life, Valdemar applied himself to the internal administration. He caused a survey to be made of the whole kingdom; and of this important document the greater part still remains. There were eight bishoprics, subdivided into parishes, and into Styreshavne or maritime districts, each district to furnish a certain number of men, and each see a certain number of ships, whenever required by the public service. North Jutland had four of these sees—Rypen, Aarhus, Viborg, Borglum, which together supplied 450 vessels. South Jutland, or Sleswic, one see, was divided into 130 of these districts, each to furnish a vessel. Fionia, Laland, and Langeland, forming the diocese of Odinsey, were rated at 100. Zealand, Moen, Falster, and Rugen, which formed the see of Roskild, were rated at 120; Scania, Holland, and Bleking, subject to the archbishop of Lund, contributed 150. [Sidenote: 1240.] As a legislator, Valdemar ranks high in the Danish annals. In 1240, he promulgated what is termed the Jutland law[154], but which he intended for the whole kingdom. The attachment, however, of the Scanias and Zealands to their unwritten customs, inclined them to receive this code as supplementary only. To it we shall revert in the chapter appropriated to northern jurisprudence. ERIC VI.