The era of the civil wars in Norway

Reasons to

The reunification of Norway is usually associated with the success of King Harald I the Beautiful- Haired victor at the Battle of Hafrsfjord in 872 , but the process of unification took a long time. By the middle of the XI century. it seemed that the process was complete. However, in Norway it was still common practice to simultaneously rule several kings ( king ). Apparently, it was the usual way to resolve disputes in the presence of several applicants for the throne. Relations between such co-rulers were often tense, but open conflicts were largely prevented. Unambiguous laws of succession did not exist. The main criterion for choosing a worthy candidate for the throne was kinship with Harald the Beautiful-haired male line - the law of origin did not play a role.

King Sigurd I The Crusader also shared power over the kingdom with his brothers, the kings Eystein I and Olaf Magnusson , but after they died peacefully, Sigurd became the only ruler, like his son and successor Magnus IV . However, in the late 1120s , a man named Harald Gilly arrived in Norway from Ireland, calling himself the son of Magnus Barefoot , the father of King Sigurd. King Magnus fought in Ireland for some time, and so Harald could be King Sigurd's brother. Harald confirmed his right by passing the test of fire , the usual proof of that time, and Sigurd recognized him as his brother. However, Harald made an oath that he would not claim the title of king while Sigurd and his son were alive.

Sigurd Crusader Heirs

After the death of Sigurd in 1130, Harald broke his oath. The son of Sigurd Magnus was proclaimed king, but Harald also claimed the throne and received numerous support. It was an agreement under which Magnus and Harald together became kings and co-rulers. Peace between them lasted until 1134 , when open war broke out. In 1135, Harald defeated and captured Magnus in Bergen . Magnus was blinded, castrated , mutilated and imprisoned in a monastery. After that, he became known as Magnus the Blind. At this time, another man arrived from Scotland, calling himself the son of Magnus Barefoot, Sigurd Slembe . He claimed that he confirmed his rights by passing fire tests in Denmark . Harald did not recognize him as his brother. In 1136, Sigurd killed Harald at his headquarters in Bergen and proclaimed himself king. Supporters of Harald did not recognize him and raised to the throne two young sons of the first, Sigurd Munn and Inge Gorbaty . Sigurd Slembe released Magnus the Blind from the monastery and made an alliance with him. The war between Sigurd Slembe and Magnus the Blind on the one hand and the old supporters of Harald Gille and his sons - on the other, continued until 1139 , when Magnus and Sigurd were defeated at the Battle of Valera . Magnus died in battle, and Sigurd was captured and tortured to death.

Board of Harald Gille sons

The joint rule of Sigurd Munn and Inge Humpback was peaceful as long as they were both children. In 1142, a royal son came to Norway from the west again. This time it was Eystein Haraldson , son of Harald Gille. Eystein claimed part of his father's inheritance and received the royal title and a third of the kingdom. Three brothers, apparently, ruled the world until 1155 . According to the sagas, Eystein and Sigurd Munn made plans to displace their brother Inge and divide his part of the kingdom among themselves. Influenced by his mother Ingrid Ragnwaldsdottir and landrman Gregorius Dagssson, Inge decided to deliver the first blow at the meeting of the three kings in Bergen. Inge's people attacked and killed Sigurd Munn while Eystein was on his way. Then Inge and Eystein concluded a difficult agreement, but soon the relationship between them turned into open war, in which Eystein was captured and killed in Bohuslän in 1157 . The question of whether Inge gave the order to kill his brother remains unclear. Supporters of the deceased brothers Eystein and Sigurd Munn did not go over to Inge and instead chose a new challenger ( kongsemne ), the son of Sigurd Munn Haakon the Shoulder . This was the first sign of a new stage of civil wars: the opposing parties no longer simply united around the king or the claimant to the throne, but remained together after the fall of their leader and chose a new chapter, thereby marking the emergence of more well-organized forces. The new party leader Haakonu in 1157 was only 10 years old. Nevertheless, his supporters proclaimed him king and continued the fight against Inge. In 1161 they crushed and killed Inge at the Battle of Oslo.

Magnus Erlingsson and church intervention

Inge's supporters did the same as their opponents four years earlier, and instead of recognizing Haakon, chose a new chapter. They chose the five-year-old Magnus Erlingsson , the son of one of the most influential leaders of the feudal lord ( lendrmann ) Erling Skacca and his wife Christina, daughter of King Sigurd the Crusader. Erling became the actual leader of this game with the title Jarl . The following year, 1162, they defeated and killed King Haakon II at the Battle of Secken in Romsdalsfjord. A year after that, in 1163 , Erling Skakka seized and killed in Sri Lang another son of Sigurd Munn, Sigurd Marcusfostre , who had become a new contender for power and entered into battle with Magnus Erlingsson.

Erling and the remnants of his party, choosing Magnus Erlingsson as their leader, made a radical coup, violating one of the traditional principles of succession to the throne. Magnus was the heir of the ancient royal dynasty only on the maternal line, he was not the son of the king. To smooth out this shortcoming, the Erling and Magnus party made an alliance with the Catholic Church and introduced a new rule. From now on, the king was to be born in wedlock. The former leader, Inge Hunchback, was the only legitimate son of Harald Gille, and King Magnus Erlingsson was the legitimate son of Erling and Christina. The union with the church, which recently strengthened its structure after the creation of a separate Norwegian archdiocese in Nidarus in 1152, was an important achievement for Erling and Magnus. In 1163, in Bergen, seven-year-old Magnus Erlingsson became the first crowned king of Norway. In addition, a recorded right of inheritance was introduced, according to which only the eldest of the legitimate sons could inherit the throne. In the next decade, the system under which Mangus Erlingsson was king, and Erling Skakka the de facto ruler of the country, seemed reliable. Erling ruthlessly suppressed any possible rivalry on the part of his son. He also formed an alliance with the Danish king Valdemar I , and, according to one source, for some time received from him the area of ​​the Oslo fjord as a county . However, the degree of dependence on Denmark remains in question.

Rise of the labelbainers and King Sverre

In 1174, a new party revolted against Magnus Erlingsson. Their leader was the young Eystein Deva , son of Eystein Haraldsson. The new party was named birkebeynerov , that is, "birch-legged", because some of them were so poor that they wrapped their legs instead of shoes with birch . Eystein Deva was killed by the people of Magnus and Erling at the Battle of Re in 1177 . Soon after, Sverre Sigurdsson became the leader of the labelbeyner. Sverre arrived in Norway from the Faroes and announced that he had recently learned that he was the son of King Sigurd Munn . His claims were questioned by many contemporaries and most modern historians. However, as head of the tagkebeiners, he gathered around him all those who were unhappy with the rule of Erling Scacca and King Magnus.

Some materialists among modern historians are trying to present the struggle of Sverre and the labelbainers against Erling and Magnus as a form of class struggle . However, the extent to which the people of Sverrir were marginalized remains controversial. Obviously, most of the landmans of the landmans — the nobility of the time — were on the side of Magnus, but Sverre also quickly drew several of them to his side. In any case, the labelbayners did not try to change the social system - they just tried to find themselves at the top.

In 1179, Sverre won an important victory in the Battle of Kalvskinnet in the vicinity of Nidarus, in which Erling Scacca was killed. Since that time, the Tröndelag region with its center in Nidarus became the stronghold of Sverre. King Magnus continued the struggle after the death of his father and rejected several proposals from Sverre about the division of the kingdom between them. Saga of Sverre , written by his supporters, tells us that Magnus was popular among ordinary people and it was increasingly difficult for Sverre to fight him. The war between Sverre and Magnus continued for several years, and at one time Magnus sought refuge in Denmark. In the final battle of Fireeth in the Sognefjord in 1184, Magnus died, and Sverre won the final victory.

Sverre ruled Norway until 1202 , but was unable to achieve a long peace. The church, which was on the side of King Magnus and Erling Skacca, remained a dangerous opposition to Sverre throughout his reign. In 1190, Archbishop Eirik Ivarsson fled the country, in 1194 he received permission from the Pope to excommunicate Sverre from the church and called upon the bishops who remained in the country to follow him to Denmark, which they did. After that, Sverre was able to force the Bishop of Oslo, Nicholas Arnesson, one of his strongest rivals, to crown himself in Bergen (1194). In 1198, Pope Innocent III imposed an interdict on Norway. Although Sverre faked letters alleging that his excommunication had been canceled, in fact he remained excommunicated until the end of his life.

Several claimants rebelled against Sverre. Among the most dangerous rivals was Yon Kuvlung , the alleged son of King Inge Gorbatogo. He was declared king in 1185 and died in the Battle of Bergen in 1188 . Sigurd Magnusson , son of King Magnus Erlingsson, was declared king in the Orkney Islands in 1193 . At the age of 13, he led the party. He received support, among others, from Harald Maddadsson . His elevation ended in defeat and death at the Battle of Florvag in the vicinity of Bergen in 1194.

Bagler Rise

In 1197, the most serious threat to the Sverre regime arose. Several influential opponents of Sverre, including the Bishop of Oslo, Nicholas Arnesson, who was the half brother of King Inge Gorbaty, and the Archbishop Eirik Ivarsson, met at the fair Halor in Skåne , then became part of Denmark. They chose as their challenger the alleged son of Magnus Erlingsson, the young Inge Magnusson . Their party became known as buggers from the Old Norse word for the episcopal staff . The war between buglers, who enjoyed open support for the church, and Birkebainers occupied the rest of the board of Sverre. They could not dislodge Sverre, but he could not win a decisive victory over them. When Sverre died of a disease in Bergen in 1202, he became the first king of Norway, who died a natural death after Sigurd the Crusader in 1130. Before his death, he gave advice to his son and heir Haakon Sverrirson to reconcile with the church. Haakon became the new king and head of the labelbainers, and the bishops who returned to the country later that year freed the country from interdict. Inge’s king, who lost most of his supporters, was killed the same year.

The Second War of the Baglers and the Agreement in Kvitsoy

Haakon Sverriersson managed to pacify the whole country, but died suddenly in 1204 . His successor was the young Guttorm , who died in the same year. Birkebeiner was not aware of any of the direct heirs of King Sverre and they chose the new king of his nephew Inge Bardson . Following in Denmark, the Baghler party was revived, choosing as its king another son of King Magnus Erlingsson Erling Steinweg . In 1204, with the help of the Danish king Valdemar II, they invaded Norway, capturing the Oslo Fjord. The second war with buglers continued until 1208 . After the illness and death of Erling Steinweg, he was replaced by Philip Simonsson , the nephew of King Inge Hunchback, and Nicholas, the Bishop of Oslo, and the war continued without interruption. The stronghold of baglers was Oslo Fjord, and tagkebeiner - Trøndelag, but battles and clashes occurred throughout the country. In the end, the bishops were able to conclude an agreement between the two parties at a meeting in Kvitsoy in 1208. Under the control of the king of baglers, Phillip remained eastern Norway, but he refused the royal title, thus the king of the Birbebeiners Inge remained the sole ruler of the whole country. In fact, Philip continued to call himself king until death, but peace between the buglers and the tagbeyner was maintained until 1217 .

Reconciliation between buglers and tagbainers

Inge Bardsson, the king of the labelbainers, died in 1217. Birkebeiners, fearing to remain without a leader in the event of a Bagler attack, chose the 13-year-old Haakon Håkonsson as their king, and Jarl Skule Bardsson led the army. Haakon Haakonsson was the posthumous son of Haakon Sverrirson, who was not feared by the Birkebeiners when they chose Inge as their king in 1204 - he arrived at the court of King Inge in 1206 . Cheekbone was the brother of King Inge, and he himself had claims to the throne, but for the time being he was satisfied with the role of commander in chief, becoming in fact the most powerful man in the kingdom. When Phillip, the king of baglers, died the same year, Skule acted quickly. He convinced the baglers not to choose their own king. Instead, they officially dissolved their party and swore allegiance to Haakon, thus uniting the kingdom. Discontented elements remained, and an uprising led by Erling Steinweg’s son Sigurd Ribbung , which lasted until 1227, flared up in eastern Norway. After Sigurd’s death from natural causes, his supporters stopped the uprising. 1227 is sometimes indicated as the year of the end of the era of civil wars, but more often it also includes the Skula Bardsson rebellion in 1239-1240.

Election as King of Hokon in 1217 seemed to be a temporary solution until a permanent agreement was reached, and Skula certainly had hoped soon to occupy the throne. At a meeting of all the nobility of the country in Bergen in 1223 , Skula put forward his candidacy for the post of king against Haakon, along with Sigurd Ribbung and two other candidates. However, the congress approved the king of Hokon. Growing up, Haakon gradually took the power in the country into his own hands, and the power of the Cheekbone steadily weakened. Trying to keep the peace between them, Haakon married the daughter of Skula Margarita in 1225 . In 1237, Skule was granted the title of Duke ( hertogi ), for the first time in Norway. This was not enough to satisfy Skula, and in 1239 he proclaimed himself king and began a war against Haakon. His rebellion was unsuccessful, and in 1240 he was killed by the people of Haakon when he sought refuge in a monastery in Nidarus. The era of civil wars is over.

Opinions of Contemporaries

Civil wars and discord in the royal dynasty were commonplace in the Middle Ages in Norway, as in other European countries. Nevertheless, there is evidence that contemporaries treated by this time as a special, different from the previous one. Monk Theodoric, who wrote the history of Norway in Latin approx. 1180, ends his work with the death of King Sigurd the Crusader in 1130 , believing the following:

"... it is completely inappropriate to describe subsequent crimes, murders, perjury, patricide, desecration of holy places, blasphemy, robbery of the clergy and ordinary people, abduction of women and other vileness that are too long to list" ^[1]

English historian William of Newburg , who wrote approx. 1200, describes Norway as follows:

"... for more than a century, although the kings are changing rapidly here, not one of them died from old age or illness, but they all died by the sword, leaving the greatness of the empire to their murderers as legitimate heirs, therefore truly the expression" You killed, and still enter inheritance? "(1 Kings 21:19 ) may apply to all who have been ruling here for so long." ^[2]

Modern views

Modern historians have put forward various versions and explanations of the era of civil wars. Sources of the time, the sagas, too emphasize the personal motives of conflicts - wars occurred because of the struggle of various people for the throne. The confused right of inheritance and the practice of separation of power between several rulers at the same time led to the fact that personal conflicts developed into full-scale wars. Not so long ago, the historian of Narva, Bjørgo, suggested that the practice of separation of power was a good way to govern the kingdom in the initial period after unification, and the desire for centralization and unitarity were important factors in the outbreak of war. Edward Bull also emphasized the hostility of the inhabitants of various regions as the cause of the wars, citing the fact that different applicants often found support in certain areas of the country. Also important was the intervention of external forces: the Danish and, to a lesser extent, the Swedish kings , who were always ready to support the party, which in their opinion helped to increase their own influence, particularly in the area of Oslofjord .

A popular explanation in early Norwegian historiography (late XIX - early XX centuries ) was the conflict between royal power and aristocracy ( landmann ). In accordance with this view, historians such as P. A. Munk, J. E. Sars and Gustav Storm considered that aristocrats considered the king as a means of controlling the country. Consequently, they supported the weak kings, but in the end were defeated by the strong king Sverre. The intervention of the Church was explained in the same way. These versions were not confirmed when it became clear that the Landmann equally supported both sides, and before and after King Sverre. Actually Sverre himself drew some landmans to his side. Knut Helle emphasizes how much the Church did after Sverre’s death in order to achieve reconciliation between the two parties and stability.

By the middle of the XX century. in the Norwegian historiography, the materialistic approach became popular. His supporters, for example, Edward Bull and Andreas Holmsen, sought the economic and social causes of civil wars. They believed that in the 12th century, Norwegian society became socially divided , many independent peasants turned into tenants, while the landmans and the Church became large landowners. This spawned a conflict that led to civil wars. They also believed that certain regions (such as Tröndelag and the interior of eastern Norway ) were more homogeneous and therefore opposed more socially stratified regions. These attempts to explain events as a form of class struggle did not find significant confirmation in the sources. It turned out to be impossible to prove empirically that social stratification intensified in that period. Recent studies suggest that this was not the case. Knut Helle emphasizes the steady strengthening of royal power throughout the entire period of civil wars. By the end of the war, the idea of ​​a unitary kingdom prevailed (as opposed to the practice of state separation), a centralized administration began to be created, royal power increased and, accordingly, the king was able to restrain regional and social conflicts, preventing them from becoming open opposition. From this point of view, civil wars were the last stage in the unification of Norway into a single state.

The main source of information about the events of the era of civil wars are the royal sagas . The terrestrial circle , en: Fagrskinna and en: Morkinskinna, describes this period until 1177, although the corresponding parts of Morkinskinna survived only until 1157. These three sagas were written approx. 1220-1230 and when used as historical sources, it should be remembered that they were created immediately after the events described. However, they, as a rule, were based on earlier works that did not reach us, but were available to the authors of the mentioned sagas, in particular, on the Hryggjarstykki saga written around 1150. Brief en: Ágrip also describes the era of civil wars, but the description of events is only up to approx. 1136 years. The period 1177–1240 (and the following) is described in detail in the sagas of that time: The Sverge of Sverrier (from 1177 to 1202), The Saga of the Priests (1202–1217) and the Hakon Old Saga (1217–1263). These sagas were written almost immediately after the events described. However, since they do not overlap, we have only one version of events (partly with the exception of the saga bugler, which contains two versions of events 1202-1209), and this version corresponds to the point of view of the main character of the saga. At the end of this period, documentary evidence begins to appear. The oldest surviving royal letters in Norway belongs to Philip, the king of baglers ^[3] . There are also several runic inscriptions of the central characters: during the excavations in Bergen, a runic inscription was found, most likely written by King Sverrir’s son Sigurd Lavard ca. 1200 years ^[4] . There is also an inscription in the portal of the now-destroyed wooden church in Vinah, made by Magnus Erlingsson's brother Sigurd, dated June 18, 1194 .

Претенденты, именовавшие себя королями, но не указанные в официальном списке королей ^[5] , выделены курсивом .

• Магнус Слепой (1130—1135) ( —1139 )
• Харальд Гилли (1130—1136)
  • Сигурд Слембе : 1135—1139
• Сигурд Мунн (1136—1155)
• Инге Горбатый (1136—1161)
• Эйстейн Харальдссон (1142—1157)
• Хокон Широкоплечий (1157—1162)
• Магнус Эрлингссон (1161—1184)
  • Сигурд Маркуфостре : 1162—1163
  • Олаф Уйева : 1166—1169
  • Эйстейн Дева : 1174—1177
• Сверре Сигурдссон (1177—1202)
  • Йон Кувлунг : 1185—1188
  • Сигурд Магнуссон : 1193—1194
  • Инге Магнуссон : 1196—1202
• Хокон Сверрирссон (1202—1204)
• Гутторм Сигурдссон (1204)
• Инге Баардссон (1204—1217)
  • Эрлинг Стейнвегг : 1204—1207
  • Филипп Симонссон : 1207—1217
• Хокон Старый (1217—1263)
  • Сигурд Риббунг : 1220—1226
  • Кнут Хоконссон : 1226—1227
  • Скуле Бордссон : 1239—1240

1. ↑ Theodoricus monachus (translated and annotated by David and Ian McDougall with an introduction by Peter Foote) (1998). The Ancient History of the Norwegian Kings . Viking Society for Northern Research. ISBN 0-903521-40-7 , p. 53.
2. ↑ Internet History Sourcebooks
3. ↑ Diplomatarium Norvegicum
4. ↑ http://www.nb.no/baser/runer/efullpost.php?bnr=B448
5. ↑ kongehuset.no — Forsiden

• Heimkringla in English on Wikisource
• The Saga of King Sverri of Norway — a translation from 1899
• Of Sverre, King of Norway — from William of Newburgh 's History of English Affairs , Book three, chapter six

Основные источники

• 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 GW Dasent (1894, repr. 1964). The Saga of Hakon and a Fragment of the Saga of Magnus with Appendices. London ( Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores , vol.88.4).
• Finn Hødnebø & Hallvard Magerøy (eds.); translator Gunnar Pedersen; (1979). Soga om baglarar og birkebeinar (Noregs kongesoger 3). Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo. ISBN 82-521-0891-1 (на норвежском языке)

Additional sources

• Geoffrey Malcolm Gathorne-Hardy; (1956). A royal impostor: King Sverre of Norway. London: Oxford University Press. ASIN B0007IYKOM
• Sverre Bagge; (1996). From Gang Leader to the Lord's Anointed: Kingship in Sverris Saga and Hakonar Saga Hakonarsonar . Univ Pr of Southern Denmark. ISBN 87-7838-108-8
• Knut Helle; (1974). Norge blir en stat 1130-1319 . Universitetsforlaget. ISBN 82-00-01323-5 (на норвежском языке)