Haakon III of Norway
Encyclopedia
Håkon III (1182 – 1 January 1204) was king of Norway from 1202 to 1204.
, then a Faroese
adventurer, by his concubine Astrid Roesdatter, at some point in the 1170s. This was during the Norwegian civil wars.
The civil war period
of Norwegian history
lasted from 1130 to 1240. During this period there were several interlocked conflicts of varying scale and intensity. The background for these conflicts were the unclear Norwegian succession laws, social conditions and the struggle between different aristocratic parties and between Church and King. There were then two main parties, firstly known by varying names or no names at all, but finally condensed into the parties of Bagler
and Birkebeiner
. The rallying point regularly was a royal son, who was set up as the leader of the party in question, to oppose the rule of king from the contesting party. Sverre and Håkon were leaders of the Birkebeiner party.
Håkon is first mentioned as one of the leaders of his father's armies in a battle against the Bagler in Oslo
in 1197. Subsequently he is mentioned several times as taking part in his father's wars against the Bagler. On his deathbed his father, who died on 9 March 1202, declared that he had no other son alive than Håkon. He also wrote a letter to Håkon advising him to settle the longstanding dispute with the church. When the news of Sverre's death reached Håkon and the Birkebeiner assembled in Nidaros
, Håkon was first taken as chieftain by the Birkebeiner. The same spring he was taken as king at the thing
in Nidaros.
The same spring the Norwegian bishops, who had been in exile in Sweden
and Denmark
and had supported the Bagler, returned to Norway and made a settlement with Håkon. It seems likely that he gave in to most of their demands. Norway was released from the interdict
it had been placed under during the reign of Sverre. Håkon is said to have been on friendly terms with the farmers and the common people, and the Bagler party soon lost much of its support. In the autumn of 1202, the Bagler king Inge Magnusson
was killed by the local farmers of Oppland
and the Bagler party in Norway was dissolved. A new Bagler pretender, Erling Steinvegg
, soon appeared in Denmark, but declined to renew the fighting, as he saw little chance of succeeding against Håkon. Håkon was thus the undisputed ruler of the country.
Håkon appears to have had a troubled relationship with his father's queen, Margareta Eriksdotter
. After Sverre's death, Margareta attempted to return to her native Sweden with her daughter by Sverre, Kristina. Håkon's men forcibly separated her from her daughter, as he wanted to keep her at his court. Subsequently, Margareta seemingly settled with Håkon and went to his court. During Christmas in 1203, Håkon fell ill after a bloodletting
, and on 1 January 1204 he died. His death was suspected as poisoning and his stepmother Margareta was suspected of the crime. In the end she had one of her men undergo a trial by ordeal
on her behalf to prove her innocence, but the man was badly burned. This was taken as proof of her guilt, and she had to flee back to Sweden.
Håkon Sverresson was not married, and at his death no heirs were known. He was therefore succeeded by his 4-year-old nephew Guttorm Sigurdsson
. But after his death a woman, Inga of Varteig, whom Håkon had taken as a concubine for a time in 1203, appeared at the Birkebeiner court with an infant son who she claimed was Håkon's son. The child had been born in present-day Østfold
after the death of the putative father. The boy, named Håkon after his father, later became king Håkon IV
. In the summer of 1218, Inga underwent a successful trial by ordeal
(bore iron) in Bergen
to show the paternity of her son.
During Håkon's brief reign, he managed to release Norway from the church's interdict, and end the civil wars, at least for a time. Whether the peace would have lasted if he had been allowed to live is impossible to say. As it turned out, his early death sparked a renewal of the fighting, as the bagler pretender Erling Steinvegg in a matter of months gathered an army and went to Norway to claim the throne.
Håkon was buried in the old cathedral in Bergen. The cathedral was demolished in 1531, and the site is today marked by a memorial.
Our main sources to Håkon's life are Sverris saga
and the Bagler sagas
, both written shortly after the events, in the 13th century.
Biography
He was born as the second illegitimate son of the future king SverreSverre of Norway
Sverre Sigurdsson was king of Norway from 1177 to 1202. He married Margareta Eriksdotter, the daughter of the Swedish king Eric the Saint, by whom he had the daughter Kristina Sverresdotter....
, then a Faroese
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
adventurer, by his concubine Astrid Roesdatter, at some point in the 1170s. This was during the Norwegian civil wars.
The civil war period
Civil war era in Norway
The Civil war era of Norwegian history is a term used for the period in the history of Norway between 1130 and 1240. During this time, a series of civil wars were fought between rival kings and pretenders to the throne of Norway. The reasons for the wars is one of the most debated topics in...
of Norwegian history
History of Norway
The history of human settlement in what is present day Norway goes back at least 11,000 years, to the late Paleolithic. Archaeological finds in the county of Møre og Romsdal have been dated to 9,200 BC and are probably the remains of settlers from Doggerland, an area now submerged in the North Sea,...
lasted from 1130 to 1240. During this period there were several interlocked conflicts of varying scale and intensity. The background for these conflicts were the unclear Norwegian succession laws, social conditions and the struggle between different aristocratic parties and between Church and King. There were then two main parties, firstly known by varying names or no names at all, but finally condensed into the parties of Bagler
Bagler
The Bagli Party or Bagler was a faction or party during the Norwegian Civil Wars. The Bagler faction was made up principally of the Norwegian aristocracy, clergy and merchants....
and Birkebeiner
Birkebeiner
The Birkebein Party or Birkebeinar was the name for a rebellious party in Norway, formed in 1174 around the pretender to the Norwegian throne, Eystein Meyla...
. The rallying point regularly was a royal son, who was set up as the leader of the party in question, to oppose the rule of king from the contesting party. Sverre and Håkon were leaders of the Birkebeiner party.
Håkon is first mentioned as one of the leaders of his father's armies in a battle against the Bagler in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
in 1197. Subsequently he is mentioned several times as taking part in his father's wars against the Bagler. On his deathbed his father, who died on 9 March 1202, declared that he had no other son alive than Håkon. He also wrote a letter to Håkon advising him to settle the longstanding dispute with the church. When the news of Sverre's death reached Håkon and the Birkebeiner assembled in Nidaros
Nidaros
Nidaros or Niðarós was during the Middle Ages, the old name of Trondheim, Norway . Until the Reformation, Nidaros remained the centre of the spiritual life of the country...
, Håkon was first taken as chieftain by the Birkebeiner. The same spring he was taken as king at the thing
Thing (assembly)
A thing was the governing assembly in Germanic and introduced into some Celtic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...
in Nidaros.
The same spring the Norwegian bishops, who had been in exile in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and had supported the Bagler, returned to Norway and made a settlement with Håkon. It seems likely that he gave in to most of their demands. Norway was released from the interdict
Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholic canon law, an interdict is an ecclesiastical censure that excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups, who nonetheless do not cease to be members of the Church.-Distinctions in canon law:...
it had been placed under during the reign of Sverre. Håkon is said to have been on friendly terms with the farmers and the common people, and the Bagler party soon lost much of its support. In the autumn of 1202, the Bagler king Inge Magnusson
Inge Magnusson
Inge Magnusson or Inge Baglar-king was from 1196 to 1202 the Bagler candidate for pretender to the Norwegian throne during the Civil war era in Norway.In 1197, a serious challenge to the reign of King Sverre of Norway arose...
was killed by the local farmers of Oppland
Oppland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....
and the Bagler party in Norway was dissolved. A new Bagler pretender, Erling Steinvegg
Erling Steinvegg
Erling Magnusson Steinvegg or Erlingr Magnússon Steinveggr was the candidate of the Bagler to the Norwegian throne from 1204 to 1207. His candidacy resulted in the second Bagler War which lasted until 1208, when the question of the Norwegian succession was temporarily settled.-Biography:Erling...
, soon appeared in Denmark, but declined to renew the fighting, as he saw little chance of succeeding against Håkon. Håkon was thus the undisputed ruler of the country.
Håkon appears to have had a troubled relationship with his father's queen, Margareta Eriksdotter
Margareta Eriksdotter
Margareta Eriksdotter can refer to:* Margaret of Sweden, Queen of Norway, d. 1209* Margaret Leijonhufvud, b.1516; d. 1551...
. After Sverre's death, Margareta attempted to return to her native Sweden with her daughter by Sverre, Kristina. Håkon's men forcibly separated her from her daughter, as he wanted to keep her at his court. Subsequently, Margareta seemingly settled with Håkon and went to his court. During Christmas in 1203, Håkon fell ill after a bloodletting
Bloodletting
Bloodletting is the withdrawal of often little quantities of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease. Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be "humors" the proper balance of which maintained health...
, and on 1 January 1204 he died. His death was suspected as poisoning and his stepmother Margareta was suspected of the crime. In the end she had one of her men undergo a trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal is a judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience...
on her behalf to prove her innocence, but the man was badly burned. This was taken as proof of her guilt, and she had to flee back to Sweden.
Håkon Sverresson was not married, and at his death no heirs were known. He was therefore succeeded by his 4-year-old nephew Guttorm Sigurdsson
Guttorm of Norway
Guttorm Sigurdsson was King of Norway during 1204.-Background:Guttorm Sigurdsson was the son of Sigurd Lavard and grandson of King Sverre. Sigurd Lavard died in 1200 or 1201 during the reign of King Sverre...
. But after his death a woman, Inga of Varteig, whom Håkon had taken as a concubine for a time in 1203, appeared at the Birkebeiner court with an infant son who she claimed was Håkon's son. The child had been born in present-day Østfold
Østfold
is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden , while Buskerud and Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. The seat of the county administration is Sarpsborg, and Fredrikstad is the largest city.Many manufacturing facilities are situated here. Moss and...
after the death of the putative father. The boy, named Håkon after his father, later became king Håkon IV
Haakon IV of Norway
Haakon Haakonarson , also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. Under his rule, medieval Norway reached its peak....
. In the summer of 1218, Inga underwent a successful trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal is a judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience...
(bore iron) in Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
to show the paternity of her son.
During Håkon's brief reign, he managed to release Norway from the church's interdict, and end the civil wars, at least for a time. Whether the peace would have lasted if he had been allowed to live is impossible to say. As it turned out, his early death sparked a renewal of the fighting, as the bagler pretender Erling Steinvegg in a matter of months gathered an army and went to Norway to claim the throne.
Håkon was buried in the old cathedral in Bergen. The cathedral was demolished in 1531, and the site is today marked by a memorial.
Our main sources to Håkon's life are Sverris saga
Sverris saga
Sverris saga is one of the kings' sagas. Its subject is King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway and it is the main source for this period of Norwegian history. As the foreword tells us, the saga in its final form consists of more than one part. Work first began in 1185 under the king’s direct supervision...
and the Bagler sagas
Bagler sagas
The Bagler Sagas are kings' sagas relating to events in Norway from 1202 to 1217. They are our main source to events in Norway in this period...
, both written shortly after the events, in the 13th century.