ERIK PRIEST-HATER (1280-1299).
The barons, who had acquired extensive privileges during the reign of
King Magnus, had a chance to establish their power still more securely
during the minority of his son Erik, who, at his father's death, was but
twelve years old. A great influence was also wielded by the imperious
queen-dowager, Ingeborg, who made common cause with the barons and was
the real soul of the regency. Of her two surviving sons, Duke Haakon,
the younger, was the more fitted, by strength of body and mind, to
occupy the throne. He received great fiefs, and though recognizing
Erik's overlordship, conducted himself as an independent sovereign. He
issued decrees, coined money, and made independent alliances with
foreign princes. His brother was a weak, good-natured man who never knew
how to assert his will against that of his mother and his high-handed
councillors. The latter, among whom the barons, Hallkell Agmundsson,
Audun Hugleiksson, and Bjarne Erlingsson of Giske and Bjarkoe, were the
most eminent, disapproved highly of the concessions which King Magnus
had made to the Church, and were watching for an opportunity to check
the power and arrogance of the clergy. They found it necessary,
however, to conceal their plans, until the king had been crowned by
Archbishop Jon, and they even consented to have him include in the
coronation oath the promise "to yield all due honor to the clergy and
the bishops, and to repeal all bad laws, especially such as might
conflict with the liberty of the Church."
The archbishop interpreted this promise literally, and demanded after
the coronation the repeal of the laws in question. The queen and the
barons were, however, not disposed to yield a single point, but rather
welcomed the opportunity to measure strength with the domineering
prelates. It was of no use that the archbishop put Hallkell Agmundsson
in the ban; his colleagues only honored him more conspicuously, and when
Queen Ingeborg and Bjarne Erlingsson received the same punishment, they,
as well as the people, showed an indifference, which left the archbishop
powerless. After having vainly appealed to the Pope, and having been
foiled at the Roman Curia by ambassadors from the barons, Jon the Red
and two other bishops were outlawed and compelled to leave the country.
The archbishop died in exile in Sweden in 1282.
The king, who was yet a mere boy, was neutral in this struggle. If the
decision had rested with him, he would probably have continued his
father's policy of concession, and the epithet "Priest-Hater," which has
been attached to his name, is therefore undeserved.
When Erik was fourteen years old, he was married to Margaret of
Scotland, the daughter of his grandfather's enemy, King Alexander III.
The young queen died, however, a year later, after having given birth to
a daughter, who, on the death of King Alexander (1284), was acknowledged
as the heir to the throne of Scotland. While yet a child (1290), the
Maid of Norway, as she was called, embarked for the land which she was
to rule, but died before reaching it. Her father then, as his daughter's
heir, laid claim to the Scottish crown, but the armed interference of
King Edward I. of England compelled him to abandon his candidacy. He had
at that time another controversy on his hands, which threatened serious
results.
The queen-dowager, Ingeborg, was the daughter of the Danish king, Erik
Plowpenny. His nephew, Erik Glipping, who succeeded his father,
Christopher I., refused to surrender her inheritance, which consisted in
landed estates in different parts of the kingdom. Magnus Law-Mender had
vainly insisted upon the surrender of the property, and Erik, at the
instigation of his mother, resumed negotiations, and, when these
resulted in nothing, made threatening demonstrations. The Norse baron,
Sir Alf Erlingsson, a special favorite of the queen, began to prey upon
the shipping in the Sound, and by his recklessness and daring, made his
name dreaded among seamen and merchants. He did, indeed, inflict much
injury upon Danish commerce, and ravaged the coasts of Jutland and
Halland; but the principal sufferers were the cities of the Hanseatic
League, which, by the concessions of Magnus Law-Mender, had obtained a
virtual monopoly of the foreign trade of Norway. Their ships were now
seized without mercy by the noble pirate, who added insult to injury by
once appearing incognito among them in an open boat, and bargaining with
them about the price which they had set upon his head. It was of no use
that the League sent out ships of war to capture him; he out-manoeuvred
them, deceived them, sent them on a wild-goose chase, and ended by
capturing his would-be captors. Though not officially authorized to
carry on war in this fashion, Sir Alf perceived that his performances
were winked at by the queen-dowager, who was actually so gratified at
his success, that she had him created an earl, and induced the king to
use him as his ambassador to England. As allies of the King of Denmark,
the Hanseatic cities were, in the queen's opinion, entitled to no
consideration, but she forgot in her blind hostility that they had it in
their power to take revenge. Partly on account of the risk, partly as a
measure of retaliation, the Hansa forbade the importation of grain and
other staples of food to Norway, and the result was famine and misery.
The hostilities with Denmark in the meanwhile continued, but were, after
the death of Queen Ingeborg (1287), conducted, not by piracy, but by
open warfare. A conspiracy was formed against the life of King Erik
Glipping, and he was murdered, while on the chase (1286), by Marshal
Stig, Count Jacob of Halland, and others. The murderers, who were
outlawed in Denmark, found a refuge in Norway, and accompanied King Erik
on his campaign against their native country in 1289. The city of
Elsinore was burned, and the Norwegian fleet lay for four weeks near
Copenhagen, serving as a basis of operations for the outlawed
king-slayers, who satisfied their private vengeance by burning cities
and castles. Three similar expeditions, during the following six years,
brought Erik neither honor nor profit in proportion to the cost of the
enterprise; although, in the end, the Danish king, Erik Menved, was
compelled to conclude an armistice for three years at Hinsgavl, in Funen
(1295), at which he made a definite promise of the surrender of the
disputed property. The king-slayers were permitted to return unmolested
to their homes, and their estates were to be restored to them.
The war with the Hanseatic cities had come to an end long before, by the
peace of Kalmar, (1285). The formidable weapon which they wielded, in
their ability to cut off supplies, gave them so great an advantage that
King Erik had no choice but to accept their terms. King Magnus of
Sweden, who, according to mutual agreement, had been selected as umpire
negotiated peace, on the conditions that King Erik should return to
their owners all ships which had been captured, pay an indemnity of six
thousand marks and greatly extend the commercial privileges of the
Hansa. Thus the lawless valor of "Little Sir Alf," as the pirate earl
was called, proved no less disastrous to his country than it did to
himself. He did not appreciate the difference which the death of the
queen had made in his position; but continued to tread law and honor
under foot with defiant heedlessness. The baron, Sir Hallkell
Agmundsson the commander of Oslo Castle, had for some reason incurred
his hostility; and Earl Alf gathered, in the ancient fashion, a band of
adventurers about him and commenced a rebellion, as it appears, against
Duke Haakon, who was Sir Hallkell's protector. He even had the audacity
to attack Oslo, set fire to the town, capture his foe, and after a brief
imprisonment executed him. This daring murder brought upon him a
sentence of outlawry; and he was forced to seek refuge in Sweden, where
King Magnus took him under his protection. His luck had, however,
deserted him, for when again he appeared as a corsair in Danish waters,
he was captured and brought in irons into the presence of Queen Agnes.
According to the ballad, she twitted him on the smallness of his
stature; to which he replied that she would never live to see the day
when she could bear such a son. Another and still more insolent remark
made the queen so furious that she struck her fist against the table and
declared that Little Sir Alf should be tortured on the rack, and his
bones broken on the wheel. The sentence was executed the following day
(1290).
After the death of his first queen, King Erik had married Isabella
Bruce, the sister of Robert, who later became King of Scotland. He had
by this marriage a daughter, Ingeborg, who became the wife of Duke
Valdemar, the brother of the Swedish king, Birger Magnusson. King Erik
died at the age of thirty-one (1299), after having been king for
nineteen years.
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