_Magnus Erlingson (1162-1184)--The Birchlegs_
After the battle of Sekken, Erling Skakke proceeded with King Magnus
and the whole army up to Nidaros, where the Thing was convened, and
Magnus was proclaimed king of all Norway. They remained there but
a short time, however, for Erling did not put great faith in the
Throndhjem people. Erling returned with his son to Bergen, and later in
the fall went to Tunsberg, where he intended to stay during the winter.
Some of the late King Haakon's chiefs, who had not been present at the
battle, among them Earl Sigurd of Reyr, refused to acknowledge King
Magnus. They left their ships in Raumsdal and went over to Uplands,
where they found many adherents. They chose for their king a young son
of King Sigurd Mund, named Sigurd Markusfostre (_i.e._, foster-son
of Markus), who had been brought up by Markus of Skog, a friend and
relative of Earl Sigurd. Quite an army was collected, but as the
territory they held was small, their foraging became burdensome to the
people, and there was considerable dissatisfaction. Erling Skakke took
advantage of this, and when finally a battle was fought at Ree, near
Tunsberg, he easily defeated Sigurd's adherents. Earl Sigurd fell in
the battle (February, 1163). Sigurd Markusfostre and his foster-father
were captured and killed in the fall of the same year.
The archbishop in Nidaros was at that time Eystein, a son of Erlend
Himalde, who descended from a very influential family in the Throndhjem
district. In the summer of 1164 Erling Skakke had a conference with
Archbishop Eystein in Bergen, where all the bishops of the country were
then assembled, together with the legate from Rome, Stephanus. The
result of the conference was that Magnus was to be anointed and crowned
as king by the archbishop, while on the other hand it was agreed that
in the future the church--represented by the archbishop and the other
bishops, together with twelve leading men from each bishopric selected
by the bishop--was to decide at the death of a king which one of his
heirs was to succeed him; and if the king left no heirs of whom the
magnates approved, they were to elect a successor to the throne. In
the presence of the papal legate, the bishops, and a great many other
clergymen, King Magnus, who was then eight years old, was anointed and
crowned by the archbishop. Magnus, Erling's son, was the first crowned
king in Norway. By this solemn act Erling Skakke believed he had
secured his son's dynasty on the throne, and he could now with greater
safety turn his whole attention to internal and foreign enemies, as he
felt convinced that the greater part of the people would rally around
the anointed king.
When King Valdemar of Denmark heard that Erling Skakke had defeated
Haakon Herdebred and Sigurd Markusfostre, and that his son Magnus had
been crowned king of the whole country, he sent a message to Erling
and reminded him of the agreement, by which Viken was to be ceded
to the Danish king, if Magnus became king of Norway. Erling and his
advisers showed no inclination to adhere to the agreement, and the
messenger returned to Denmark without having accomplished anything.
In the spring of 1165 King Valdemar sailed with a fleet north to
Viken in order to take possession of the province. He tried peaceful
proceedings; but he was so coolly received by the people of Viken that
he returned to Denmark, preferring, as he said to his men, to use his
army against the heathens of Vendland. The hostility between Norway and
Denmark, however, lasted some time. Erling made a cruise to Jutland
and defeated the Danes in a battle at Dyrsaa, and returned to Norway
with a great booty. A second expedition of King Valdemar to Viken
in the spring of 1168 became as indecisive as the first, so far as
establishing any authority there; but he dealt the inhabitants of Viken
a hurtful blow by forbidding them to trade with Denmark, at the same
time forbidding the Danes to export grain to Norway.
While Erling Skakke was absent on an expedition to Denmark, a band of
rebels was organized under the leadership of a new pretender, Olaf, a
son of King Eystein Magnusson's daughter Maria, in her marriage with
the chief Gudbrand Skafhoggson, who fell with King Inge in the battle at
Oslo. Olaf was brought up by an influential man named Sigurd Agn-Hat.
Probably from the latter's surname the adherents of Olaf were called
Hat-Swains (Hættesveiner). The Hat-Swains proclaimed Olaf king, and
went through the Uplands, and sometimes down to Viken, or east to the
forest settlements. At Rydjokel, near Lake Oiern, they surprised
Erling Skakke and his men early one morning, and in the fight that
followed killed several of Erling's men and drove the remainder down
to their ships. Because Olaf did not succeed in capturing Erling,
although the odds were all in his favor, he was afterward called Olaf
the Unlucky (Ugæva). The following spring the Hat-Swains met Erling
in battle at Stanger, in the eastern part of Viken, where Erling won
a decisive victory. Sigurd Agn-Hat and many others of Olaf's men fell
here. Olaf escaped by flight, went south to Denmark, and spent the
winter in Aalborg, where he died of sickness the following spring
(1169).
The interruption of the navigation between Norway and Denmark under
the decree of King Valdemar worked great hardship to the Norwegians,
especially the inhabitants of Viken, and Erling Skakke was finally
induced to open negotiations for peace. He spent a winter in Denmark,
and in the following spring peace was finally concluded, the terms
being that Viken should be under the sovereignty of the Danish king,
but Erling was to hold it in fief as King Valdemar's vassal with the
title of Earl. Erling returned to Norway, and the peace with Denmark
was afterward well preserved.
Erling Skakke considered it a policy of necessity to remove any person
who by reason of royal birth might become rivals of his son to the
throne. King Sigurd Mund had left a daughter named Cecilia. As soon
as she became old enough, he sent her to Vermeland and made her the
mistress of Folkvid the lawman, knowing that the children from such a
connection could not become dangerous rivals. About the same time one
of the king's men discovered and brought to Erling a young man named
Harald, who in all secrecy had been brought up in the Uplands. He was
the son of Erling's own wife Kristina, and his father was the late
King Sigurd Mund. An illicit intimacy between such near relatives as
Kristina and Sigurd was, under the church laws of the time, considered
one of the greatest sins, and everything had therefore been done to
keep the matter secret, and Kristina had heretofore succeeded in
concealing her guilt. When Erling saw the illegitimate son of his wife
before him, he said very little, and those present understood that the
young man was doomed. King Magnus, who had taken a liking to Harald,
interceded in his favor; but his father answered: "Thou wouldst govern
this kingdom but a short time in peace and safety, if thou wert to
follow the counsels of the heart only." Earl Erling ordered Harald to
be taken to Nordnes, where he was beheaded.
Erling Skakke, however, did not succeed in removing all pretenders.
In the year 1174 there appeared on the scene a young man called
Eystein, who claimed to be a son of King Eystein Haraldson. He was
small of stature, and had a fine, soft face, and he was therefore
generally called Eystein Meyla (Little Maiden). He first went on a
visit to Gautland to Earl Birger Brosa, who was married to Eystein's
aunt, Brigida, a daughter of Harald Gille. They received him well,
and furnished him some assistance in men and money. Eystein then
proceeded to Norway, and when he came to Viken many people flocked
to him. His followers proclaimed him king, and he remained in Viken
during the winter. His means of subsistence being soon exhausted, they
commenced to rob and steal wherever there was an opportunity. They
were not strong enough to remain long in any one place, but roamed
about in mountains and forests. They suffered great hardships. Their
clothes being worn out, they wound the bark of the birch-tree about
their legs, and therefore the people called them Birkebeiner (_i.e._,
Birchlegs). During the two years which the Birchlegs spent in and about
Viken (1174-76), they had three battles in regular array with the
peasants, and were victorious in them all; but at Krokaskog they came
near meeting a disaster in encountering a superior force, and they only
saved themselves by a hasty flight.
In the third summer (1176), when Magnus had been king for thirteen
years, the Birchlegs started on a more serious expedition. They
procured ships and sailed along the coast gathering goods and men.
After having passed out of Viken they proceeded with great speed
northward to Nidaros, and no news preceded them until they reached
the Throndhjem Fjord. Erling and his son Magnus, who were in Bergen,
did not hear of their having sailed by. The Birchlegs easily overcame
the opposition in Nidaros, and Eystein was proclaimed king by the
Throndhjem people, who had never liked King Magnus. The Birchlegs
afterward proceeded to Orkedal, where, upon reviewing the troops, they
found that they had about 2,400 men. They then went to the Uplands, and
on to Thoten and Hadeland, and from there to Ringerike, subduing the
country wherever they came.
Earl Erling and King Magnus had remained in Bergen while the Birchlegs
were in the North. Then they agreed that Erling should remain with a
strong force in Bergen, in case the enemy should come down along the
coast, while King Magnus, who was now twenty years old, was to go
to Viken and take up his residence in Tunsberg, in order to protect
that part of the country from possible enemies. King Magnus went to
Tunsberg, where he and Orm, "King's-brother," had their Christmas
festivities. In January, 1177, King Magnus with his army met the
Birchlegs at Ree, and won a decisive victory over them. The whole
body of the Birchlegs was scattered far and wide. Eystein fled into
a peasant's house, and begged for his life; but the peasant killed
him and brought his body to King Magnus at the Ramnes farm. All the
Birchlegs took flight, as they had no hope of mercy from Erling Skakke
or King Magnus. Some went to Thelemark, where they had their families,
and others proceeded east across the frontier to Sweden. King Magnus's
men pursued the fugitives for a time, and killed as many as they could
overtake.
King Magnus then returned to Tunsberg, and gained great renown by this
victory. It had heretofore been said by all that Erling, his father,
was his best shield and support. But after gaining a victory over so
strong and numerous a force with fewer men, King Magnus had shown
that he could stand alone, and it was predicted that he would become
a warrior as much greater than his father, Earl Erling, as he was
younger.[12]
[12] With this battle at Ree end the Sagas of the Norse Kings by Snorre
Sturlason.
The defeated Birchlegs, who fled across the Swedish frontier, met in
Vermeland a man who was especially qualified to take the leadership of
this headless band. His name was Sverre, and he claimed to be a son of
King Sigurd Mund. He was at present staying with his sister Cecilia,
who was the mistress of Folkvid lawman.
During the latter part of the reign of Harald Gille's sons a combmaker
in Bergen by the name of Unas married a girl by the name of Gunhild.
Unas was probably a Faroe Islander by birth; his brother Roe
became bishop of the Faroe Islands in 1157. Gunhild belonged to a
distinguished family in western Norway. Shortly after their marriage
Gunhild bore a son, who was named Sverre, and everybody supposed that
Unas was his father. Sverre remained in Bergen until he was five
years old, when he was sent over to the Faroe Islands, to be brought
up by Unas's brother Roe. He was educated for the priesthood and was
in time ordained as deacon. When he was twenty-four years old, his
mother disclosed to him the fact that Unas, who had died a short time
ago, was not his father, but that he was the son of King Sigurd Mund.
From that day Sverre became very thoughtful. It appeared to him to
be too great a task to make war on King Magnus and Earl Erling; but,
on the other hand, it did not seem manful to sit quietly as a poor
peasant's son when he was the son of a king. He therefore gave up his
clerical position and embarked for Norway. Here he was informed that
his kinsman, Eystein Meyla, had accepted the title of king from the
Birchlegs; but he did not consider it wise to enter into any dealings
with him. Without making himself known, he spent some time in different
parts of Norway, investigating the sentiment of the people. He made
the acquaintance of Earl Erling and King Magnus, and often talked with
them and their court-men, who found the young clergyman from the Faroe
Islands a pleasant and entertaining companion, and by his cunning he
learned from them many things which they would not have talked about if
they had known who he was, or what plans he was nourishing. The next
winter he went to Sweden, first to Earl Birger and then to his sister
Cecilia in Vermeland, where he met the remnants of the Birchleg band.
The Birchlegs told him of the fall of Eystein Meyla and urged him to
become their chief. Sverre for a long time declined, as the whole band
consisted of only seventy men, who were all in great poverty, some
of them wounded and without clothes, and all almost unarmed. All his
objections, however, were of no avail, and they finally compelled him
to become their chief.
In the spring of 1177 Sverre set out with his seventy men to fight for
the crown of Norway. He first went south toward Viken, and on the way
he was joined by so many that, when he came to Saurboe, he had four
hundred and twenty men. He held a Thing, and against his protest they
proclaimed him king. Sverre soon discovered that a good many of his
followers were but thieves and rascals, who were very much dissatisfied
when he forbade them to rob and plunder the peasants. He started
back toward Vermeland, and when he arrived at Eidskog and mustered
his force, he found that it had again shrunk to seventy men. As he
heard that the peasants of Thelemark, some of whom had served in the
Birchleg bands under Eystein Meyla, were unfriendly to Earl Erling and
King Magnus, he sent messages to them and promised to redress their
grievances if they would join him. They were requested to meet him up
north, where he was now going. Sverre well understood that, with his
small force, he could not reach the Throndhjem country through the
eastern, well-populated district, so he decided to proceed by unknown
and almost impassable roads and make an unexpected invasion into the
country. He passed through dense forests and wildernesses, through
Dalarne and Jemteland, where he and his men underwent untold hardships.
At times they had nothing to eat but sap, bark, and berries, dug up
from under the snow. Finally, after many struggles, Sverre reached his
destination early in June, 1177. His band had received some additions
on his way through Jemteland, and he was now joined by eighty peasants
from Thelemark, so that he had a force of about two hundred men.
Outside of Nidaros he defeated and dispersed an army that was sent
against him, and then marched into the town, where he met practically
no opposition. He showed himself as a generous victor, and gave quarter
to all who asked for it. After a few successful expeditions in the
neighborhood he summoned the Oere-Thing, where he was proclaimed king
of Norway (1177).
When King Magnus and Earl Erling heard what had been going on in
Throndhjem, they gathered a large fleet and sailed northward along
the coast. Sverre's force was so small that he did not dare to await
their arrival, but left Nidaros with his men and proceeded across the
mountains toward the southern part of the country. For two years he and
his men now led a life of want and suffering, wandering from district
to district, living most of the time in the forests and mountains, and
subsisting on what they could obtain on their foraging expeditions into
the settlements. They were pursued from time to time by King Magnus's
men, and had many small battles with them. It was only by Sverre's
great cunning, wisdom and perseverance that they got through some of
the greatest dangers.
At last, in June, 1179, Sverre considered himself strong enough to
meet Erling and Magnus, and in a battle at Kalveskindet, near Nidaros,
he defeated their forces. Earl Erling fell in the battle, and King
Magnus saved himself by flight. In the battle King Magnus suffered
a considerable loss. Several of his prominent liegemen and sixty
court-men were slain. Sverre captured most of the enemy's ships, among
them the "Olafssuden," which King Magnus himself had commanded. Erling
Skakke was buried outside the Christ Church, and Sverre, who seldom
lost an opportunity to make a speech, held a funeral sermon over him.
The battle at Kalveskindet and the fall of Earl Erling brought a great
change in the fortunes of Sverre and the Birchlegs. Sverre's power and
influence grew rapidly, and in a short time the greater part of the
people outside of King Magnus's immediate surroundings were willing
to acknowledge him as king. Heretofore the name "Birchlegs" had been
a contemptuous nickname; but now it became an honorable appellation,
which everybody was proud to carry. King Magnus and Sverre seemed to
have exchanged roles. Magnus, the anointed and crowned king, was now
considered the usurper, while Sverre was considered the rightful king.
Magnus's court-men and men-at-arms were soon looked upon as a band of
adventurers, and they were called "Heklungs," because it was told of
them that they had once robbed a beggar-woman, who had her few coins
wrapped up in her cloak (_hekl_).
After the battle at Kalveskindet, King Sverre's men received pay for
their services, and he distributed among them the honors and dignities
which he had promised them. He appointed district officers throughout
the whole of the Throndhjem country. Many prominent and high-born
men of this part of the country soon came to him and offered their
allegiance, and he therefore declared that Throndhjem should hereafter
be considered his real home, and he called the people there his dearest
subjects, remembering what loyalty they had always shown his father and
his family.
King Magnus spent the year following his defeat mostly in Bergen,
where he had many strong friends, among them Archbishop Eystein and
Orm King's-Brother (a half-brother of Harald Gille's sons). Afterward
he went to Viken, where he spent the winter and gathered an army for
a new expedition against his rival. After a short stay at Nidaros,
King Sverre made a levy throughout Throndhjem, and proceeded with a
fleet south to Bergen; but when he arrived there Magnus had already
gone to Viken. He therefore returned to Nidaros, but on his way north
he installed officers in all the districts he passed. The winter of
1179-80 he spent in Nidaros.
In the spring King Magnus appeared outside of Nidaros with a force much
more numerous than the one Sverre had been able to muster, and a bloody
battle was fought on the plains of the Ilevolds. The battle resulted in
a complete victory for Sverre. King Magnus and some of his chiefs saved
themselves by flight and sailed south with a few ships.
King Magnus went first to Bergen, but soon after proceeded south to his
kinsman, King Valdemar of Denmark, by whom he was well received. But
Orm King's-Brother went to Viken, and Archbishop Eystein sailed over
to England, where he remained for three years. From here he had Sverre
declared under the ban of the church; but Sverre does not seem to have
paid any attention to this step.
About a month after the battle at the Ilevolds, King Sverre appeared
with his fleet outside of Bergen. Resistance was useless, and the
inhabitants gave him a good reception. He remained in Bergen all winter
(1180-81), and early in the spring quelled an uprising of peasants
under the leadership of Jon Kutiza. Sverre promptly punished the
rebels, and the peasants had to pay heavy fines. Later in the spring
King Magnus and Orm King's-Brother came north with a strong fleet, and
a battle was fought at Nordnes, near Bergen. A good many men fell on
both sides; but Magnus was again defeated and compelled to save himself
by flight. The Birchlegs captured eighteen of Magnus's ships and
brought them into the town. They also took other rich booty, for Magnus
was at that time well supplied with money and goods.
Magnus went to Stavanger, and it was but a short time before he was
again ready to attack Sverre at Bergen. This time, however, Sverre
wished to avoid a battle, and sailed with his ships north to Nidaros,
where he proceeded to improve the fortifications of the town. Meanwhile
Magnus remained in Bergen.
During Sverre's stay in Nidaros there came to him a young man named
Erik, who claimed to be a son of King Sigurd Mund. He had been
in many foreign lands, had been in the service of the emperor at
Constantinople, and on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where he had
bathed in the river Jordan. He now asked leave to prove his royal
descent by the iron ordeal. After a consultation with his friends and
chiefs, Sverre permitted him to undergo the ordeal upon the condition
that he must not aspire to the crown. Sverre prescribed the oath to be
taken by the young man in submitting to the ordeal to prove that he was
the son of Sigurd Mund "and the brother of Sverre." In this way Sverre
meant to obtain incidentally a confirmation of his own title. But Erik
refused to undertake to establish the descent of anybody but himself,
and omitted the additional words. He successfully underwent the ordeal,
and King Sverre acknowledged him as his brother, and gave him a command
in his royal guard.
The conflict between Sverre and Magnus continued for three years
more. In 1181 King Sverre opened negotiations for a cessation of
hostilities, offering first to share the kingdom with Magnus, and
afterward proposing that they should reign alternately for three years
each. Magnus, however, declined all offers, and the war was continued.
During the years 1181 and 1182, King Magnus made three attacks on the
Birchlegs at Nidaros with varying success. In the summer of 1183 Sverre
sailed with a fleet down to Bergen, where he surprised and defeated the
Heklungs, and compelled Magnus to flee east to Viken. The Birchlegs
did not pursue the enemy very far, but returned to Bergen, and took
possession of Magnus's whole fleet and a rich booty. Magnus's crown,
sceptre and whole coronation outfit fell into Sverre's hands. Many men,
who had heretofore been attached to Magnus, now joined King Sverre and
swore him allegiance. Archbishop Eystein, who had just returned to
the country after a three years' sojourn in England, was reconciled
to King Sverre, and returned to his archbishopric in Nidaros. After
a short stay in Bergen, and having installed district officers in
Sogn, Hordaland, and Rogaland, Sverre returned with his whole army to
Nidaros. Magnus again proceeded to Denmark, where the previous year
King Knut VI. had succeeded his father, Valdemar the Great, on the
throne.
Magnus made a final attempt to defeat Sverre in the summer of 1184,
when he came up from Denmark with a large fleet. King Sverre had sailed
into the Norefjord, a narrow arm of the Sognefjord, in order to punish
the inhabitants of Sogn for having killed his prefect, Ivar Darre,
and some other officers. Magnus sailed in after him with his greatly
superior force, and a fierce battle was fought at Fimreite, June 15,
1184. The Birchlegs fought with great heroism, and a large number of
men fell. The battle commenced in the afternoon. At sundown the first
Heklungs turned to flee, and at midnight the battle was finished. The
Heklungs had been completely routed. Two thousand men had fallen, among
them King Magnus himself and the most prominent chieftains, the flower
of the aristocracy of Gulathingslag and Viken. Among the slain were
Harald, the son of King Inge; Orm King's-Brother and his son, Ivar
Steig; Aasbiorn Jonson of Thiorn; Ragnvald, the son of Jon Hallkelson;
Eindride Torve, Jon Kutiza's son, and many other prominent men.
King Magnus was twenty-eight years old at the time of his death, having
borne the title of king for twenty-three years. His body was found two
days after the battle, and was brought to Bergen, where it was buried
with great ceremony.