Civil war era in Norway
Norwegian Civil Wars | |||||||
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King Sverre crossing the mountains of Voss | |||||||
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Bagler | Birkebeiner |
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The civil war era in Norway (Norwegian: borgarkrigstida, borgarkrigstidi, borgerkrigstida or borgerkrigstiden) began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders waged wars to claim the throne.
In the absence of formal laws governing claims to rule, men who had proper lineage and wanted to be king came forward and entered into peaceful, if still fraught, agreements to let one man be king, set up temporary lines of succession, take turns ruling, or share power simultaneously. In 1130, with the death of King
In the first decades of the civil wars, alliances shifted and centered on the person of a king or pretender. However, towards the end of the 12th century, two rival parties, the
Events of the civil war era
Background
The unification of Norway into one kingdom is traditionally held to have been achieved by King
King
Succession to Sigurd the Crusader
When
Harald Gille's sons
The power-sharing between Sigurd Munn and Inge Crouchback functioned well as long as they were both minors. In 1142, once again, a king's son arrived in Norway from west of the North Sea. This time it was
Magnus Erlingsson and the Church
In 1161 Inge's followers took the same course of action as Øystein's followers had four years earlier and elected a new figurehead rather than submit to Håkon. The choice fell upon the five-year-old Magnus Erlingsson, the son of one of their most prominent leaders, the lendmann Erling Skakke, by his wife Kristin, daughter of King Sigurd the Crusader. Erling, with the title jarl, became the real leader of the faction. The next year they succeeded in defeating and killing Håkon in battle at Sekken in the Romsdalsfjord. The year after that another son of Sigurd Munn, Sigurd Markusfostre, who had been set up as a new pretender against Magnus Erlingsson, was captured by Erling Skakke and killed in Bergen.[5]
The action of Erling and the rest of his party in electing Magnus Erlingsson as their leader was a radical one, as it broke with one of the traditional principles of who might become king: Magnus was not a king's son. He was only descended from the ancient royal line through his mother. To compensate for this shortcoming, Erling and Magnus' party allied themselves with the
King Sverre and the rise of the Birkebeiner
In 1174 a new faction arose in rebellion against Magnus Erlingsson. Their leader was the young Øystein Møyla, a son of Øystein Haraldsson. This new faction was called the birkebeiner, meaning birch-legs because some of them were so poor that they wound birch-bark around their legs instead of proper footwear. Øystein Møyla was killed by Magnus and Erling's men at the Battle of Re in 1177. Soon after the Birkebeiner made Sverre Sigurdsson their leader. Sverre had come to Norway from the Faroe Islands and claimed to have recently discovered that he was in fact the son of King Sigurd Munn. His claim was widely disbelieved at the time (as well as by most modern historians). However, after taking over leadership of the Birkebeiner, he became a rallying point for everyone disgruntled with the rule of Erling Skakke and King Magnus.[7]
Some
In 1179 Sverre won an important victory in the battle at Kalvskinnet (Slaget ved Kalvskinnet) on the outskirts of Nidaros, where Erling Skakke was killed. From that point, the Trøndelag region with Nidaros at its center became a stronghold of Sverre. King Magnus continued the fight after the death of his father and refused several offers from Sverre to divide the kingdom between them. Sverris saga, which was written by Sverre's supporters, makes much of how popular Magnus was among the common people and how this made Sverre's fight against him all the more difficult. The war between Sverre and Magnus raged on for several years, and Magnus at one point had to seek refuge in Denmark. The Battle of Fimreite, a final naval battle during 1184 in the Sognefjord, resulted in the death of King Magnus and victory for King Sverre.
Sverre was to rule Norway until 1202, but was unable to achieve long periods of peace. The Church, allied to King Magnus and Erling Skakke, remained virulent in its opposition to Sverre throughout his reign. In 1190 the archbishop, Eirik Ivarsson, fled the country and in 1194 he received papal support to
Several pretenders arose to challenge Sverre. Among the most serious was Jon Kuvlung, a purported son of King Inge Crouchback. He was named king in 1185 and killed in battle in Bergen three years later. Sigurd Magnusson, an illegitimate son of King Magnus Erlingsson, was proclaimed to be king in 1193 at the Haugating near Tønsberg. Aged 13, Sigurd was a figurehead leader. He had the support of, among others, Harald Maddadsson. His rising ended after his defeat and death at the Battle of Florvåg near Askøy, an island just north of Bergen, in 1194.[9]
Rising of the Bagler
In 1197 the most serious challenge to Sverre's kingdom arose. Several prominent opponents of Sverre, including Bishop
The Second Bagler War and the Settlement of Kvitsøy
Håkon Sverresson appeared to have pacified the whole country, but died suddenly in 1204. His successor was the infant
Reconciliation between Bagler and Birkebeiner
In 1217 King Inge Bårdsson died. The Birkebeiner, nervous at being left without a leader in case of a Bagler attack, chose the 13-year-old
The election of Håkon as king in 1217 seems to have been considered something of a temporary solution until a permanent arrangement could be reached, and Skule undoubtedly hoped that he would soon take over the throne. At a gathering of the most important men of the kingdom in Bergen in 1223, Skule launched his candidacy to the throne of Norway in opposition to Håkon, along with Sigurd Erlingsson Ribbung and two other pretenders. However, the meeting ended with Håkon being confirmed as king. As Håkon grew up and gradually took the reins of power into his own hands, Skule's position steadily declined. In an attempt at preserving the peace between the two, Håkon married Skule's daughter Margaret in 1225. In 1237 Skule was given the title of duke (hertogi), the first time the title was used in Norway. This was not sufficient to placate him, and in 1239 he had himself declared king of Norway and launched a war against King Håkon. His revolt was unsuccessful, and in 1240 he was killed by King Håkon's men after seeking refuge in a monastery in Nidaros. The civil war era was at an end.
Views on the civil wars
Contemporary views
Civil wars and internal strife in royal families were common in the Middle Ages, in Norway as in other European countries. However, some contemporary accounts show people viewed the civil war era as notably different from what had gone before.
- ... utterly unfitting to record for posterity the crimes, killings, perjuries, parricides, desecration of holy places, the contempt for God, the plundering no less of the clergy than of the whole people, the abductions of women and other abominations which it would take long to enumerate[12]
which had occurred since then. The English historian William of Newburgh, writing c. 1200, writes of Norway that
- ... for more than a century back, although the succession of kings there had been rapid, yet none of them had ended his days by age or sickness, but all had perished by the sword, leaving the dignity of empire to their assassins as their lawful successors; so that, indeed, the expression, "Hast thou killed, and also taken possession?" [cf. 1 Kings 21:19] may seem to apply to all who reigned there for so long a space of time.[13]
Modern views
Modern historians have put forward many views and explanations of the civil war era. The contemporary sources, the sagas, strongly emphasise the personal nature of the conflicts—wars arose as a result of the struggle between different people for the possession of the throne. The unclear succession laws, and the practice of power-sharing between several kings simultaneously, gave personal conflicts the potential to become full-blown wars. More recently historian Narve Bjørgo has suggested that the practice of power-sharing was actually a good way of governing the kingdom in the first period after its unification, and that tendencies towards centralization, and a unitary kingdom, were important factors in triggering the wars. Edvard Bull has also emphasized geographical animosities as a factor, pointing to the fact that different pretenders often found their main support in certain parts of the country. Also important was the involvement of foreign powers: Danish and, to a lesser extent, Swedish kings were always ready to lend their support to factions in the Norwegian wars, with an eye to extending their own influence, particularly in the Viken (Oslofjord) area.[14]
A popular explanation in early Norwegian historiography (late 19th, early 20th century) was a conflict between the royal power and the aristocracy (the
Towards the middle of the 20th century
Sources
The main sources for the civil war era are the kings' sagas. Heimskringla, Fagrskinna and Morkinskinna all describe the period up to the year 1177, although the parts of Morkinskinna that are preserved only extend to 1157. These three sagas were written c. 1220–1230, and in using them as historical sources, it has to be remembered that they were thus written a fair amount of time after the events they describe. However, they are likely to have been based on earlier works, in particular the saga Hryggjarstykki, written c. 1150, which is lost to us, but was available to the authors of the three aforementioned sagas.[19]
Ágrip af Noregs konunga sögum also describes the civil war era, but has only been preserved up to the events of c. 1136. The period 1177 to 1240 (and beyond) is treated in detail in contemporaneous sagas: Sverris saga (from 1177 to 1202) the Bagler sagas (1202 to 1217) and Håkon Håkonsson's saga (1217 to 1263). These sagas were written very shortly after the events they describe. However, as they don't overlap, we are given only one version of events (with the partial exception of the Bagler Sagas, which exist in two versions for the period 1202 to 1209), and this version tends to be from the viewpoint of the main character of the saga.[20]
From the later part of the period, fragments of documentation start to appear. The oldest Norwegian royal letter which is preserved was made out by Philippus the bagler king.
List of kings and pretenders during the civil war era
Pretenders who had themselves named king, but are not counted in the official line of kings are written in italics.[25]
- Magnus the Blind(1130–1135) (–1139)
- Harald Gille(1130–1136)
- Sigurd Slembe: 1135–1139
- Sigurd Munn(1136–1155)
- Inge Crouchback(1136–1161)
- Øystein Haraldsson (1142–1157)
- Håkon the Broadshouldered(1157–1162)
- Magnus Erlingsson (1161–1184)
- Sigurd Markusfostre: 1162–1163
- Olav Ugjæva: 1166–1169
- Eystein Meyla: 1174–1177
- Sverre Sigurdsson (1177–1202)
- Jon Kuvlung: 1185–1188
- Sigurd Magnusson: 1193–1194
- Inge Magnusson: 1196–1202
- Håkon Sverresson (1202–1204)
- Guttorm Sigurdsson (1204)
- Inge Bårdsson(1204–1217)
- Erling Stonewall: 1204–1207
- Filippus Simonsson: 1207–1217
- Håkon Håkonsson(1217–1263)
- Sigurd Ribbung: 1220–1226
- Knut Håkonsson: 1226–1227
- Skule Bårdsson: 1239–1240
Further reading
- David Brégaint (2020) "Kings and aristocratic elites: communicating power and status in medieval Norway." Scandinavian Journal of History.
References
- ^ Per Sveaas Andersen; Per G. Norseng. "Norsk historie fra 800 til 1130". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
- ^ Per G. Norseng. "Sigurd Jorsalfare". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
- ^ "Saga of Magnus the Blind and of Harald Gille". Heimskringla or The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
- ^ Helge Salvesen. "Gregorius Dagsson". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
- ^ Helge Salvesen. "Sigurd Markusfostre". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
- ^ Haakon Holmboe. "Erling Skakke". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ Per G. Norseng. "birkebeiner". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
- ^ Helge Salvesen; Per G. Norseng. "Nikolas Arnesson". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ "Sverre Sigurdsson, Konge". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
- ^ Haakon Holmboe, Helge Salvesen. "baglere". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
- ^ Knut Peter Lyche Arstad. "Sigurd Erlingsson Ribbung, Opprørskonge". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ISBN 0-903521-40-7, p. 53.
- ^ "William of Newburgh: Book Three. Chapter 6: Of Sverre, king of Norway". Internet Medieval Source Book. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ Tor Ivar Hansen. "Narve Bjørgo". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ Tor Ragnar Weidling. "Peter Andreas Munch – historiker". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ Ottar Dahl. "Gustav Storm, Historiker". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ Jørn Sandnes. "Andreas Holmsen, Historiker". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ "Edv Bull, Historiker, Politiker". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ Knut Ødegård. "Hryggjarstykki". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ "Ågrip". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ Philippus, Baglernes Konge (Diplomatarium Norvegicum)
- ^ Sigurdr Lavarðr (National Library of Norway)
- ^ Anthony Faulkes and Richard Perkins. "Ágrip Af Nóregskonungas ̄Gum" (PDF). Viking Society For Northern Research. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
- ^ Knut Peter Lyche Arstad. "Sigurd Erlingsson Jarlsson, Høvding, Baglerhøvding". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ "Den norske kongerekken". Detn norske kongehus. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
External links
- Heimkringla in English on Wikisource
- The Saga of King Sverri of Norway – a translation from 1899
- Of Sverre, King of Norway Archived 2012-12-07 at the Wayback Machine – from William of Newburgh's History of English Affairs, Book three, chapter six
Primary sources
- Matthew James Driscoll (ed.) (1995). Agrip Af Noregskonungasogum (Viking Society for Northern Research) ISBN 0-903521-27-X
- Kari Ellen Gade & Theodore Murdock Andersson (eds.) (2000) Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030–1157) (Cornell University Press) ISBN 0-8014-3694-X
- Alison Finlay; editor and translator (2004) Fagrskinna, a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway (Brill Academic Publishers) ISBN 90-04-13172-8
- Snorri Sturluson; translator Lee M. Hollander (repr. 1991) Heimskringla : History of the Kings of Norway (University of Texas Press) ISBN 0-292-73061-6
- Karl Jónsson; translator J. Stephton The Saga of King Sverri of Norway (Llanerch Press) ISBN 1-897853-49-1
- Sturla Þórðarson; translation to English by G.W. Dasent (1894, repr. 1964). The Saga of Hakon and a Fragment of the Saga of Magnus with Appendices. (London: Rerum Britannicarum Medii Ævi Scriptores, vol. 88:4)
- Finn Hødnebø & Hallvard Magerøy (eds.); translator Gunnar Pedersen; (1979). Soga om baglarar og birkebeinar (Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget) ISBN 82-521-0891-1
Related reading
- Gathorne-Hardy, Geoffrey Malcolm (1956) A royal impostor: King Sverre of Norway (London: Oxford University Press) ASIN B0007IYKOM
- ISBN 87-7838-108-8
- ISBN 82-00-01323-5