Kingdom of Norway (872–1397)

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Kingdom of Norway
Norwegian Realm
872–1397
Flag of Norway
Likely Royal Banner used since the 13th century.
Coat of arms variant used from the 12th–13th century. of Norway
Coat of arms variant used from the 12th–13th century.
Norway at its greatest extent, around 1263
Norway at its greatest extent, around 1263
Status
Capital
  • Ǫgvaldsnes (Avaldsnes)
    (872–997)
  • Niðaróss (Trondheim)
    (997–1016, 1030–1111, 1150–1217)
  • Borg (Sarpsborg)
    (1016–1030)
  • Konungahella
    (Kungälv)
    (1111 – c. 1150)
  • Biǫrgvín (Bergen)
    (1217–1314)
  • Ósló
    (1314–1397)
Common languages
Majority languages:
Other languages:
Writing system:
Religion
State religions:

(1015–1397) Other religions:
Monarch 
• 872–932
Harald I (first)
• 1387–1397
Margaret I (last)
LegislatureNone
(872–c. 1000)
Þing (i.e. Gulatingslǫg, Borgarþingslǫg, Heiðsævisþing, and Frostuþingslǫg)
(c. 1000c. 1300)
Riksråd
(c. 1300–1397)
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
872
• Disestablished
1397
CurrencyNorwegian penning
(995–1397)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Petty kingdoms of Norway
Icelandic Commonwealth
North Sea Empire
Kalmar Union
Hanseatic League
Today part ofSee:
Loss of Norwegian possessions

The term Norwegian Realm (

seafarers
for centuries before being annexed or incorporated into the kingdom as 'tax territories'. To the North, Norway also bordered extensive tax territories on the mainland. Norway, whose expansionism starts from the very foundation of the Kingdom in 872, reached the peak of its power in the years between 1240 and 1319.

At the peak of Norwegian expansion before the

Bremen, Germany. The Kingdom of Norway was the second European country after England to enforce a unified code of law to be applied for the whole country, called Magnus Lagabøtes landslov
(1274).

The secular power was at its strongest at the end of King

Haakon Haakonsson's reign in 1263. An important element of the period was the ecclesiastical supremacy of the archdiocese of Nidaros from 1152. There are no reliable sources for when Jämtland was placed under the archbishop of Uppsala. Uppsala was established later, and was the third metropolitan diocese in Scandinavia after Lund and Nidaros. The church participated in a political process both before and during the Kalmar Union that aimed at[clarification needed] Swedish side, to establish a position for Sweden in Jämtland. This area had been a borderland in relation to the Swedish kingdom, and probably in some sort of alliance with Trøndelag, just as with Hålogaland
.

A unified realm was initiated by King

Harald I Fairhair in the 9th century. His efforts in unifying the petty kingdoms of Norway
resulted in the first known Norwegian central government. The country, however, soon fragmented, and was again collected into one entity in the first half of the 11th century. Norway has been a monarchy since Fairhair, passing through several eras.

History

When

Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Jarl
of Møre.

Haakon Haakonsson and was there convinced that Iceland was by right Norwegian. So began the Age of the Sturlungs, a time of political strife in Iceland. The Sturlungs worked to bring Iceland under Norwegian rule, spreading propaganda through their positions at the Althing and even resorting to violence before the Old Covenant
was signed in 1262, which brought total Norwegian rule over the island.

In Ranríki

Nordic Seven Years' War, but later returned to Denmark-Norway as a result of the Stettin treaty of 1570. Idre and Særna, Norwegian since the 12th century, were conquered by Sweden during the Hannibal controversy
. Ranríki, Herjárdalr, Jamtaland, Idre and Særna were permanently surrendered to Sweden by the Peace of Brömsebro 13 August 1645.

Mainland

Southern part of mainland Norway
Northern part of mainland Norway

Administrative divisions

Viken, counties under Borgarþing
:

Oppland, counties under Heiðsævisþing:

Vestlandet, counties under Gulaþing
:

Trøndelag, counties under Frostaþing:

Rest of Norway, counties not attached to a thing:

Tax territory

Expansion and unification

From the 600s Western Norwegian fish farmers began an

displaced or assimilated
by the Norwegian immigrants.

Consistently, the islands' populations had a Norwegian ancestry, who kept in touch with the homeland over the North Sea. These Norwegians had their own chiefs or kings in the Norwegian tradition, subject to Norwegian royal power when it eventually developed a centralized state. Often, Norwegian kings had enough to contend with on the mainland, so the local power in the villages was often in the hands of local earls who operated on behalf of the king.

Holdings in Sweden were in varying degrees Norwegian. By the 9th and 10th centuries, it is reasonable to assume that the population of Båhuslen, Jämtland and Herjedalen had no national affiliation to Norway,

centralized monarchy to create this, which had to consolidate its right in the border areas above the neighboring kingdoms
. Norway was then the first to integrate these areas into its kingdom.

Overseas

Crown dependencies

Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland remained under Norwegian administration until 1814.

The treaty of Perth (1266) accepted Norwegian sovereignty over Shetland and Orkney; in turn Norway had to give the Hebrides and Isle of Man to Scotland.

Vassals

Vassals annexed by King Magnus III in 1098.

Ireland

  • Dyflin (Kingdom of Dublin)[4]

Scotland

Wales

Statue of Rollo in Ålesund, Norway.

Areas governed by Norwegians independent from the Realm

England

  • Northumbria

Jórvík
(York).

France

  • Normandy

The Duchy of Normandy was ruled by Norwegian and Danish Vikings, under the leadership of

had failed the same year.

Scotland

Monarchs of the hereditary kingdom

Haraldr Halfdansson, first monarch of the Fairhair dynasty

Yngling / Fairhair dynasty

Rome, Italy
. – Pius Weloński, Sant'Olav di Norvegia (1893)

Lade dynasty

Trygvason dynasty

Lade dynasty (restored)

  • Sweyn Haakonsson

Saint Olaf dynasty

  • Olaf II Haraldsson

Lade dynasty (restored, second time)

Saint Olaf dynasty (restored)

Hardrada dynasty

Haraldr Sigurðarson, first monarch of the Hardrada dynasty

Gille dynasty

Haraldr Gilli, first monarch of the Gille dynasty

Hardrada dynasty (female line)

  • Magnus V Erlingsson

Sverre
dynasty

Sverrir Sigurðarson, first monarch of the Sverre dynasty
  • Sverre I Sigurdsson
  • Haakon III Sverresson
  • Guttorm Sigurdsson

Gille dynasty (female line)

  • Inge II Bårdsson

Sverre dynasty (restored)

Civil war era

from 1130 to the second phase where there are extensive battles between them from 1160 to 1184 and the final phase in which the Birkebeiners defeat the rest in 1240.

Battle of Minne (1137) between the armies of Sigurd Slembe and Inge Krokrygg.

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

Magnus
. Already on bad terms before Sigurd's death, the two men and the factions loyal to them went to war.

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

Håkon Håkonsson. Duke Skule was defeated in 1240, bringing more than 100 years of civil wars to an end.[13]

Ancient and medieval aristocracy