The Battle of Gestilren is a battle that occurred on July 17, 1210 . [1] This was the last battle between the exiled Swedish king Sverker II and the reigning king Eric X. Sverker was defeated in the previous battle of Lena , but returned with a new army. However, Sverker was killed during the battle. The exact number of troops participating in the battle is unknown.
| Battle of Hestilren | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| date | July 17, 1210 | ||
| A place | Gestilren , Sweden | ||
| Total | victory of the House of Eric | ||
| Opponents | |||
| |||
| Commanders | |||
| |||
| Forces of the parties | |||
| |||
| Losses | |||
| |||
Background
Sverker II grew up in exile in Denmark and was proclaimed king in 1195/96 to the detriment of the four sons of the previous King Knut I. He pursued a policy of strengthening the influence of the church, but faced difficulties after twelve years of reign. Knut's only surviving son, Eric, was supported by a birkebeyner party in Norway and ousted Sverker in 1207–08. Sverker turned for help to King of Denmark Waldemar the Victorious and his influential Danish relatives. With a strong army, he invaded Westergötland in early 1208, but suffered a crushing defeat in the battle of Lena . The vast majority of the Danish army fell on the battlefield. Among the few survivors was Sverker himself, who returned to Denmark.
Pope Innocent III , impressed by Sverker’s pro-Western policy, ordered Eric to resolve the conflict with Sverker or prepare for serious consequences. However, his instructions did not have the desired effect. Therefore, a new expedition was organized in Denmark to return the Swedish throne.
Battle
In the summer of 1210, Sverker again invaded the Swedish kingdom, where Eric, meanwhile, assumed the title of king. The army approached a place called Gestilren, where on July 17 (according to another version on August 16) he clashed with Eric's troops. The details of the battle that have reached us are extremely scarce. A brief chronicle of the Law of Gotland states that "the Folkungs took his life from him, his own brother-in-law did this to him in Gestilren." [2] The annal record tells us about the "war in Gestilren on August 16, where King Sverker, Folke Jarl and many Volkungs fell." [3] Thus, the Swedish forces won, despite heavy casualties, including one of their commanders, Folke Jarl, was killed. With the tragic death of Sverker, the war that had torn Sweden for two and a half years came to an end and quickly ended in peace with Denmark.
The battle was a victory for the Volkung local government party, which opposed the strengthening of centralization by the Catholic monarchy. Sverker’s killer Volke Jarl was probably the son of the powerful jarl Birger Brosa (d. 1202) and Birger’s uncle, whose descendants ruled Sweden after 1250. If so, he really was Sverker's brother-in-law. In early modern historiography, the royal branch of the clan was also called "Folkungs," which is not entirely correct. The name might initially have been mentioned by Folke Jarl supporters in Hestilren, but then became the name for the party or faction. The party often opposed royal rule until they were defeated at the Battle of Sparsatra in 1247, finally disappearing in 1280. [four]
Notes
- ↑ “July 17 in Swedish History,” nordstjernan.com . Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- ↑ Mats G. Larsson, Götarnas riken: Upptäcktsfärder till Sveriges enande . Stockholm: Atlantis, 2002, p. 185.
- ↑ Philip Line, Kingship and state formation in Sweden 1130–1290 . Leiden: Brill, 2007, p. 143.
- ↑ Erik Lönnroth, Från svensk medeltid . Stockholm: Aldus, 1964.