 |
| Sverre's trek across the Voss Mountains, by Peter Nicolai Arbo, c. 1800s |
True Name: Sverrir Sigurðarson
Parents: Unås and Gunnhild
Date of Birth: c. 1145
House: Fairhair
Spouse: Margareta, daughter of Eric IX, king of Sweden, and Christina Björnsdotter
Reign: 1184 – 1202
Predecessor: Magnus V
Summary: Sverre grew up in the Faroes Islands far north of Scotland. He became a Catholic priest and received an excellent education in these early years. His mother revealed to him that he was the son of King Signurd Munn of Norway in 1175 (which was probably a lie) and Sverre set out for Norway to claim his throne. Norway, at the time, was recovering from a long civil war caused by successive claimants to the throne. Sverre went to Sweden to rally support from relatives of Sigurd's sister, Brigit. The group he joined was known as the Birkebeiners, and Sverre turned them into an army capable of conquering Norway. Sverre was crowned king at Øretinget in June 1177, and spent the next two years running west and east trying to take over Norway.
Magnus Erlingsson was the technical king of Norway at the time of Sverre's coronation, and Magnus was extremely angry that Norway was falling into civil war again as increasing number of factions joined Sverre's side of the conflict. The two rival kings fought on for five years, on land and sea, until Magnus fled to Denmark in 1183. Sverre them built a great ship to thwart his rival's inevitable return. At the Battle of Fimreite in 1184, Magnus's fleet was destroyed and the king drowned. Sverre was now the undisputed king of Norway. The king worked quickly to fill the political offices of Norway with his loyalists. Sverre, to legitimize any lingering doubts to his claim, married the daughter of the Swedish king. Still, with so many changes in so little time, civil war was inevitable. New factions arose in 1185 to challenge the king. Each faction presented their own royal descendant as their figurehead monarch, and each was put down by Sverre in turn, though not without much bloodshed. Then, in 1197, a new group arose and invaded Norway from Denmark. For the first time in recent history, Sverre was unable to defeat the pretenders. His capital city was besieged and the king was finally forced to flee. He rallied support in Trøndelag and was finally able to destroy the invaders, forcing them to flee back to Denmark in 1199. But peasants loyal to the invaders rose up the next year and the invaders returned with renewed strength and financing. Sverre spent his last two years fighting invasion from Denmark and uprisings from his peasants, eventually dying suddenly and leaving his son, Håkon, to finish his war for him.
Magnus Erlingsson was the technical king of Norway at the time of Sverre's coronation, and Magnus was extremely angry that Norway was falling into civil war again as increasing number of factions joined Sverre's side of the conflict. The two rival kings fought on for five years, on land and sea, until Magnus fled to Denmark in 1183. Sverre them built a great ship to thwart his rival's inevitable return. At the Battle of Fimreite in 1184, Magnus's fleet was destroyed and the king drowned. Sverre was now the undisputed king of Norway. The king worked quickly to fill the political offices of Norway with his loyalists. Sverre, to legitimize any lingering doubts to his claim, married the daughter of the Swedish king. Still, with so many changes in so little time, civil war was inevitable. New factions arose in 1185 to challenge the king. Each faction presented their own royal descendant as their figurehead monarch, and each was put down by Sverre in turn, though not without much bloodshed. Then, in 1197, a new group arose and invaded Norway from Denmark. For the first time in recent history, Sverre was unable to defeat the pretenders. His capital city was besieged and the king was finally forced to flee. He rallied support in Trøndelag and was finally able to destroy the invaders, forcing them to flee back to Denmark in 1199. But peasants loyal to the invaders rose up the next year and the invaders returned with renewed strength and financing. Sverre spent his last two years fighting invasion from Denmark and uprisings from his peasants, eventually dying suddenly and leaving his son, Håkon, to finish his war for him.
Date of Death: 9 March 1202
Successor: Håkon III
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
- William I, emperor of Germany (1888)
No comments:
Post a Comment