Haakon the Mad

The son of the Swedish lagman Volkwid of Wermland and Cecilia (1155-1186), the illegitimate daughter of the Norwegian king Sigurd II Munn ( 1136-1155 ). The most distinguished of the nephews of Sverrir Sigurdsson . In 1177, Sverrir Sigurdsson arrived in Norway and led a weakened party of birkebainers . Sverrir said that he was the son of King Sigurd Munn . Cecilia recognized him as her stepbrother. Subsequently, Cecilia left her husband and returned with her son to Norway. After Sverrir's victory in the struggle for the royal throne, Cecilia's marriage with Folkweed was annulled because it was contravened against her will. For the second time Cecilia married Borda Guttormsson.

In 1193 - 1194, Haakon the Mad was one of the leaders of tagkebeiners and fought on the side of his uncle Sverrir against Hallkjell Johnsson and Orkney Jarl of Harald Maddadsson.

In January 1204, after the death of the Norwegian King Haakon III, the leaders of Birkebeiners, under the direction of Jarl Hokon Mad, were proclaimed the new king of the 4-year-old Guttorm Sigurdsson , grandson of Sverrier. Under juvenile Guttorme, Jarl became the regent and de facto ruler of Norway. Haakon the Mad and Peter the Slayer, the nephews of Sverrir, were appointed commanders of the Birkebeiners .

In August 1204, the young King Guttorm Sigurdsson died suddenly in Trondheim . Leaders of Birkebeiners convened for Eirating , to which Archbishop Eirik the Blind arrived and notable people of Tröndelag . The bonds supported the candidacy of Hokon the Mad, but Archbishop Eirik opposed him. Sigurd Konungov Rodich (son of Sigurd Munn’s daughter) and Peter the Fighter (son of Sverrier’s sister) also claimed the throne. However, the half-brother of Hokon Inge II Bordarsson , son of Bord Guttormsson and Cecilia was elected the new king. The new king kept the title of jarl and the rank of commander in chief for Haakon, and also gave him half of the royal revenues.

In the years 1204 - 1208, King Inge and Jarl Haakon fought the buglers under the command of Erling of the Stone Wall and Philip Simonsson . In 1208, a peace agreement was concluded between the enemy in Kvitsoy . The leader of the baglers, Philip Simonsson, was given control of Oppland and part of Vick , recognizing the formal dependence on Inge Bordarsson . Most of Norway remained under the control of the labelbainers . Earl Haakon the Mad received King Inge from the administration of the western part of Norway, electing Bergen as his residence.

Later, the relationship between the half brothers deteriorated. Earl Haakon the Mad began to claim the royal title. However, Inge Bordarsson refused to recognize Håkon as his co-regent. In 1212, an agreement was signed between both brothers, under the terms of which, in the event of the death of one of them, the other was to inherit his possession. In 1214, Haakon the Mad instigated the Tröndelag peasants to revolt against the power of Inge.

At the end of December 1214, Earl Haakon the Mad died in Bergen . His half-brother, Inge Bordarsson, joined his domain to the royal domain.

In 1205, Haakon the Mad married a Swedish noblewoman Christine Nicholasdotter, daughter of Nicholas (Niels) Blake and Katerina Eriksdotter, granddaughter of the Swedish king Erik IX Saint . Children:

• Knut Haakonsson (c. 1208 - 1261 ), Jarl and the contender for the Norwegian throne in 1226 - 1227 .

After the death of her husband, Christine left Norway for Sweden ( Vestergötland ), where she again married a nobleman Eskil Magnusson.

• Saga of pososhniki