Grand appeared as a political figure when in 1289 the cathedral chapter of Lund elected him as archbishop. This position included the Scandinavian primacy. Even though the Danish King Eric VI "Menved" sharply protested at the Holy See, Nicholas IV confirmed Grand's election in 1290. From the start Grand firmly opposed the royal power, openly sympathising with the exiled magnates and refusing any support of the royal family. Like Lund's former Archbishop Jacob Erlandsen, whose sister was Grand's maternal grandmother, he seems to have been the supporter of an independent church without any obligations towards the State or the king. These views, which seem to have been expressed in a both daring and provoking way, made him appear to the young Eric "Menved" as a pure traitor - especially at a time of danger.