Haakon the Crazy
Encyclopedia
Håkon the Crazy was a Norwegian earl
and Birkebeiner
chieftain during the civil war era in Norway
. He was born no later than the 1170s and died in 1214. His epithet "the Crazy" can also be translated as frenzied, furious or frantic and probably refers to ferociousness in battle.
and king Sigurd Munn
's bastard daughter Cecilia. Cecilia had been married off to Folkvid, the lawspeaker
in Värmland
in Sweden
, by her father's enemies after he had been defeated and killed in 1155. In 1177, Sverre
arrived in Norway and took over leadership of the birkebeiner
rebel faction. Sverre claimed to be a son of king Sigurd Munn, and thus Cecilia's brother. Subsequently Cecilia left her husband and returned to Norway, probably taking young Håkon with her. After Sverre succeeded in winning the throne of Norway, Cecilia had her marriage to Folkvid annulled, claiming she had been forced to marry him against her will.
fighting for King Sverre against the rising of the Isle Beards (Øyskjegger)]. The Øyskjegger had conspired with Harald Maddadsson
, the Earl of Orkney
, gathering most of their men on the Orkney and Shetland Islands
, hence the name of the group. In the spring of 1194, King Sverre sailed south to confront the Øyskjegger. The two fleets met on 3 April in the Battle of Florvåg on Askøy
, an island just north of Bergen
. The battle experience of the Birkebeiner veterans proved to be decisive in achieving a defeat of the Øyskjegger.
In January 1204, when King Sverre's son, King Håkon III
died, Håkon the Crazy was made leader of the army, given the title jarl (earl
) and named steward of the kingdom during the minority of the child king Guttorm
, . The day after Guttorm became king, Haakon was made earl and leader of the birkebeiner army. Håkon thus became the real leader of the birkebeiner, as Guttorm was only 4 years old. When Guttorm suddenly died in August the same year, Håkon was the favored candidate among the birkebeiner military leaders, the lendmenn
, to become the next king. However, at the Thing
convened in Nidaros
to elect the new king, his candidacy was opposed by the archbishop
and the farmers of Trøndelag
. According to the bagler sagas
, Håkon's Swedish origins were held against him. In the end, Håkon's half-brother, Inge Bårdsson
became king. Håkon remained earl and leader of the military, and was given half the royal revenues.
From 1204 until 1208, Inge and Håkon fought the bagler
rising, under the pretenders Erling Stonewall
and Philippus Simonsson, until the warfare was ended by the settlement of Kvitsøy
. By this agreement, Inge and Håkon recognized bagler rule over the eastern parts of Norway with Philippus ruling as earl, under the nominal overlordship of king Inge, while the birkebeiner remained in control of the rest of the country. Earl Håkon ruled the western part of Norway, with his power base in Bergen.
The relationship between Håkon and his brother Inge seems to have been at times tense. When it became clear that Philippus was continuing to call himself king, in breach of the Kvitsøy-agreement, Håkon made attempts to have himself declared king as well, but Inge refused to accept this. Instead, an agreement was drawn up by which the brother that survived the other would inherit the other’s lands, while a legitimate son of either would inherit them both. Håkon's legitimate son, Knut Haakonsson
, thereby seemed to be in a strong position to become the next king, as Inge only had an illegitimate son. In 1214, earl Håkon was suspected of having had a hand in a rising by the farmers of Trøndelag
against king Inge. Open conflict between the two brothers never broke out, however, as Håkon died of natural causes in Bergen just after Christmas of 1214. Inge took over his part of the kingdom.
, Sweden
where she married Swedish nobleman, Eskil Magnusson
. Håkon was buried in the old Bergen Cathedral
which was demolished in 1531. A memorial today marks its site, in Bergenhus fortress
.
. He is also mentioned in Sverris saga
and Håkon Håkonsson's saga
.
Earl
An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...
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...
chieftain during the civil war era in Norway
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...
. He was born no later than the 1170s and died in 1214. His epithet "the Crazy" can also be translated as frenzied, furious or frantic and probably refers to ferociousness in battle.
Background
Håkon was the son of Folkvid the LawspeakerFolkvid the Lawspeaker
Folkvid was the lawspeaker of Värmland during the last half of the 12th century. He is only known from the so-called Bagler sagas, where he is only mentioned by virtue of his marriage to Cecilia, the bastard daughter of the Norwegian king Sigurd Munn...
and king Sigurd Munn
Sigurd II of Norway
Sigurd II Haraldsson was king of Norway from 1136 to 1155. He was son of Harald Gille, king of Norway and his mistress Tora Guttormsdotter . He served as co-ruler with his half-brothers, Inge Haraldsson and Eystein Haraldsson. His epithet Munn means "the Mouth" in Old Norse...
's bastard daughter Cecilia. Cecilia had been married off to Folkvid, the lawspeaker
Lawspeaker
A lawspeaker is a unique Scandinavian legal office. It has its basis in a common Germanic oral tradition, where wise men were asked to recite the law, but it was only in Scandinavia that the function evolved into an office...
in Värmland
Värmland
' is a historical province or landskap in the west of middle Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland and Närke. It is also bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are Vermelandia and Wermelandia. Although the province's land originally was Götaland, the...
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....
, by her father's enemies after he had been defeated and killed in 1155. In 1177, Sverre
Sverre 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....
arrived in Norway and took over leadership of the 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...
rebel faction. Sverre claimed to be a son of king Sigurd Munn, and thus Cecilia's brother. Subsequently Cecilia left her husband and returned to Norway, probably taking young Håkon with her. After Sverre succeeded in winning the throne of Norway, Cecilia had her marriage to Folkvid annulled, claiming she had been forced to marry him against her will.
Career
Håkon is first mentioned in 1193, as one of the prominent men among the birkebeinerBirkebeiner
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...
fighting for King Sverre against the rising of the Isle Beards (Øyskjegger)]. The Øyskjegger had conspired with Harald Maddadsson
Harald Maddadsson
Harald Maddadsson was Earl of Orkney and Mormaer of Caithness from 1139 until 1206. He was the son of Matad, Mormaer of Atholl, and Margaret, daughter of Earl Haakon Paulsson of Orkney...
, the Earl of Orkney
Earl of Orkney
The Earl of Orkney was originally a Norse jarl ruling Orkney, Shetland and parts of Caithness and Sutherland. The Earls were periodically subject to the kings of Norway for the Northern Isles, and later also to the kings of Alba for those parts of their territory in mainland Scotland . The Earl's...
, gathering most of their men on the Orkney and Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands
Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...
, hence the name of the group. In the spring of 1194, King Sverre sailed south to confront the Øyskjegger. The two fleets met on 3 April in the Battle of Florvåg on Askøy
Askøy
Askøy is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Since the opening of the Askøy Bridge leading to the mainland in Bergen in 1992, the population has increased rapidly. Its population growth is as of 2008 among the highest in Norway...
, an island just north of 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 , ....
. The battle experience of the Birkebeiner veterans proved to be decisive in achieving a defeat of the Øyskjegger.
In January 1204, when King Sverre's son, King Håkon III
Haakon III of Norway
Håkon III was king of Norway from 1202 to 1204.-Biography:...
died, Håkon the Crazy was made leader of the army, given the title jarl (earl
Earl
An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...
) and named steward of the kingdom during the minority of the child king Guttorm
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...
, . The day after Guttorm became king, Haakon was made earl and leader of the birkebeiner army. Håkon thus became the real leader of the birkebeiner, as Guttorm was only 4 years old. When Guttorm suddenly died in August the same year, Håkon was the favored candidate among the birkebeiner military leaders, the lendmenn
Lendmann
Lendmann , was a title in medieval Norway. Lendmann was the highest rank attainable in the hird of the Norwegian king, and a lendmann stood beneath only earls and kings...
, to become the next king. However, 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...
convened 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...
to elect the new king, his candidacy was opposed by the archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
and the farmers of Trøndelag
Trøndelag
Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...
. According to 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...
, Håkon's Swedish origins were held against him. In the end, Håkon's half-brother, Inge Bårdsson
Inge II of Norway
align=right|Inge Baardson was king of Norway from 1204 to 1217. His reign was within the later stages of the period known in Norwegian history as the age of civil wars. Inge was the king of the birkebeiner faction...
became king. Håkon remained earl and leader of the military, and was given half the royal revenues.
From 1204 until 1208, Inge and Håkon fought the 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....
rising, under the pretenders Erling Stonewall
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...
and Philippus Simonsson, until the warfare was ended by the settlement of Kvitsøy
Kvitsøy
Kvitsøy is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is the smallest municipality in Norway . Kvitsøy was separated from Mosterøy on 1 January 1923.The municipality is an archipelago situated northwest of the coast of the Stavanger peninsula...
. By this agreement, Inge and Håkon recognized bagler rule over the eastern parts of Norway with Philippus ruling as earl, under the nominal overlordship of king Inge, while the birkebeiner remained in control of the rest of the country. Earl Håkon ruled the western part of Norway, with his power base in Bergen.
The relationship between Håkon and his brother Inge seems to have been at times tense. When it became clear that Philippus was continuing to call himself king, in breach of the Kvitsøy-agreement, Håkon made attempts to have himself declared king as well, but Inge refused to accept this. Instead, an agreement was drawn up by which the brother that survived the other would inherit the other’s lands, while a legitimate son of either would inherit them both. Håkon's legitimate son, Knut Haakonsson
Knut Haakonsson
Knut Haakonsson was a Norwegian nobleman and claimant to the throne during the Civil war era in Norway.-Biography:...
, thereby seemed to be in a strong position to become the next king, as Inge only had an illegitimate son. In 1214, earl Håkon was suspected of having had a hand in a rising by the farmers of Trøndelag
Trøndelag
Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...
against king Inge. Open conflict between the two brothers never broke out, however, as Håkon died of natural causes in Bergen just after Christmas of 1214. Inge took over his part of the kingdom.
Personal life
In 1205, Håkon married the Swedish noble-woman Kristina Nikolasdotter, whose maternal grandfather was Eric the Saint, and they had a son Knut (c. 1208 - 1261). After the death of Håkon, Kristina took their son Knut with her and returned to VästergötlandVästergötland
', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....
, 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....
where she married Swedish nobleman, Eskil Magnusson
Eskil Magnusson
-Biography:He was the son of Magnus Minniskiöld, and the elder brother of Birger Jarl, one of the most powerful men of his time in Scandinavia.Due to the location of his jurisdiction and his marriage to Kristina, the widow of the Norwegian earl Hakon the Mad , Eskil had good contacts in Norway and...
. Håkon was buried in the old Bergen Cathedral
Bergen Cathedral
Bergen Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Bjørgvin. Located in the city centre of Bergen, Norway, the first recorded reference to it is dated 1181. It retains its ancient dedication to St Olaf ....
which was demolished in 1531. A memorial today marks its site, in Bergenhus fortress
Bergenhus Fortress
Bergenhus fortress is a fortress located in Bergen, Norway. Bergenhus fortress is located in the entrance to the harbor in Bergen. This is one of the oldest and best preserved castles in Norway.-History:...
.
Primary sources
Our main source to Håkon's life is the bagler sagasBagler 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...
. He is also mentioned in 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 Håkon Håkonsson's saga
Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar
Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar is an Old Norse kings' saga, telling the story of the life and reign of King Haakon Haakonarson of Norway. The saga was written by the Icelandic historian and chieftain Sturla Þórðarson, in the 1260s...
.