Sweyn sought to consolidate his power through links to the church as well as foreign powers, and actively sought the friendship of the Popes. He wanted his eldest son Knud Magnus crowned by the Pope, but Knud died on the journey to Rome. He also unsuccessfully pressed for Harald Bluetooth, the first Christian king of Denmark, to be sanctified. He was an ally of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor against Baldwin V of Flanders in 1049, and Sweyn assisted his son-in-law Gottschalk in the Liutizi Civil War of 1057.