Harald Kesja, Harald the Spear, (1080–1135) was the son of Eric I of Denmark

Eric I of Denmark

Eric I Evergood , also known as Eric the Good, , was King of Denmark following his brother Olaf I Hunger in 1095. He was a son of king Sweyn II Estridsson, by his wife Gunhild Sveinsdotter, and married Boedil Thurgotsdatter.-Biography:...

 and anti-king of Denmark.

He acted as regent 1103-1104 for his father while he was on pilgrimage to Jerusalem alongside Archbishop Asser of Lund. As regent, he was courageous, but violent, cruel and debauched. Harald plundered far and wide from his stronghold Haraldsborg at Roskilde

Roskilde

Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality, Denmark on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network....

. This has greatly contributed to that he was not elected king after his father died in 1103, instead, his uncle Niels of Denmark

Niels of Denmark

Niels of Denmark was King of Denmark from 1104 to 1134, following his brother Eric Evergood, and is presumed to have been the youngest son of king Sweyn II Estridson. Niels actively supported the canonization of Canute IV the Holy, and his secular rule was supported by the clergy...

 was elected king in 1104.

In 1132, he allied with his half-brother Eric Emune

Eric II of Denmark

Eric II the Memorable was king of Denmark between 1134 and 1137. Eric was an illegitimate son of Eric I of Denmark, who ruled Denmark from 1095 to 1103. Eric the Memorable rebelled against his uncle Niels of Denmark, and was declared king in 1134. He punished his adversaries severely, and...

 in order to avenge his third brother Canute Lavard

Canute Lavard

Canute Lavard was a Danish prince. Later he was the first Duke of Schleswig and the first border prince who was both a Danish and a German vassal, a position leafing towards the historical double position of Southern Jutland...

, but he later turned to the murderer Magnus I of Sweden

Magnus I of Sweden

Magnus I of Sweden, son of Nicholas , later called Magnus the Strong , was a Danish duke who ruled Gothenland in southern Sweden from 1125 to 1130...

 because he had desires for the Danish throne himself. He tried to gain recognition as king by the name of Harald IV and was successful in receiving the homage of Jutland, but he was defeated along with Magnus Nilsson at the Battle of Fotevik

Battle of Fotevik

Battle of Fotevik was fought between forces of King Niels of Denmark together with those of his son Magnus Nilsson against those of Erik Emune on June 4, 1134 at the bay of Fotevik in Skåne....

 in Skåne, 1134. He fled after the defeat but he was taken captive near Vejle

Vejle

Vejle is a town in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle and Grejs Rivers and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality and the Region of Southern Denmark...

 on Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

 and decapitated together with eight of his sons.

Harald Kesja had married to Ragnhild Magnusdotter, the daughter of King Magnus III of Norway

Magnus III of Norway

Magnus Barefoot or Magnus III Olafsson was King of Norway from 1093 until 1103 and King of Mann and the Isles from 1099 until 1103.-Background:...

. They had four or six sons:

• Björn Haraldsen Ironside (d. 1134), married Katarina Ingesdotter, the daughter of Inge I of Sweden
  Inge I of Sweden
  Inge the Elder was a King of Sweden.-Biography:Inge was the son of the former King Stenkil and a Swedish princess. Inge shared the rule of the kingdom with his probably elder brother Halsten Stenkilsson, but little is known with certainty of Inge's reign...
  
  . and the father of Christina of Denmark, a Swedish queen. He accidentally drowned with his brother Eric in 1134 near Schleswig.
• Eric Haraldsen (d. 1134), was a deacon. He accidentally drowned with his brother Björn in 1134 near Schleswig.
• Magnus Haraldsen (d. 4 June 1134), killed at the Battle of Fotevik
  Battle of Fotevik
  Battle of Fotevik was fought between forces of King Niels of Denmark together with those of his son Magnus Nilsson against those of Erik Emune on June 4, 1134 at the bay of Fotevik in Skåne....
  
  .
• Olaf Haraldsen (d. 1143), ruled Skåne in opposition to King Eric III of Denmark
  Eric III of Denmark
  Eric III Lamb was the King of Denmark from 1137 until 1146. He was the grandson of Eric I of Denmark and the nephew of Eric II of Denmark, whom he succeeded on the throne. He abdicated in 1146, as the first and only Danish monarch to do so. His succession led to a period of civil war between...
  
  ; he was defeated and killed in 1143.

Harald Kesja had also eight illegitimate sons beheaded with him:

• Canute Haraldsen, killed in 1135, could have been legitimate son.
• Harald Haraldsen, killed in 1135, could have been legitimate son.
• Sivard Haraldsen, killed in 1135.
• Eric Haraldsen, killed in 1135.
• Sweyn Haraldsen, killed in 1135.
• Niels Haraldsen, killed in 1135.
• Benedict Haraldsen, killed in 1135.
• Mistivint Haraldsen, killed in 1135.

Ancestry