The murder was probably a result of the enmity caused when King Eric VI of Denmark, after coming of age, confiscated the fief of Langeland and the properties of the ducal family in southern Funen.
In 1293, there was a clash between the two parties at Sommersted Heath near Haderslev which resulted in a compromise where Eric received Langeland as a fief.
Subsequently, he married Sophia of Querfurt, a daughter of Jutta of Saxony, widow of King Eric IV of Denmark in her second marriage to Burchard VIII, Count of Querfurt-Rosenburg.
On 3 February 1296 a compromise was entered in Vordingborg, in which the king promised to hand over Sophia's inheritance, but where the ducal family's properties in southern Funen, which had formerly belonged to Abel, Lord of Langeland, were kept by the king as lawfully acquired from Abel's daughter.
In 1315, Sophia, in the presence of the king and several noblemen, donated the inheritance of her sisters to Saint Agnes' Priory in Roskilde, keeping only the city of Skælskør for herself.