Inge II of Norway
Encyclopedia
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Inge Baardson (Norwegian
: Inge Bårdsson, Old Norse
: Ingi Bárðarson) (1185 – 23 April 1217) 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. The conclusion of the settlement of Kvitsøy with the bagler
faction in 1208 led to peace for the last nine years of Inge’s reigns, at the price of Inge and the birkebeiner recognising bagler rule over Viken (the Oslofjord
-area).
from the Trøndelag
region. He was an early supporter of king Sverre
, who brought the birkebeiner faction to power in the late 12th century after years of war against king Magnus Erlingsson
. Inge’s mother, Cecilia, was the daughter of an earlier king, Sigurd Munn
. She had been married to the lawspeaker
Folkvid
in Värmland
in Sweden
. After her brother, Sverre, had won the throne of Norway, she left her husband and travelled to Sverre in Norway, claiming she had been wedded to Folkvid against her will. The archbishop annulled her marriage to Folkvid, and Sverre gave her to his trusted follower Bård Guttormsson in marriage. Inge was Bård and Cecilia’s only son.
, and his grandson, Guttorm
, died within two years. The birkebeiner were thus left without any direct successors of Sverre to choose as their king (the existence of another grandson of Sverre, Haakon Haakonsson
, was as yet unknown to them). Sverre’s old adversaries, the bagler, were exploiting the situation to launch a new invasion of Viken under their king, Erling Steinvegg
. After the infant king Guttorm’s death in August 1204, the birkebeiner needed a strong leader to oppose the bagler threat. The birkebeiner leaders wanted earl Haakon the Crazy
, who had earlier been appointed to rule the kingdom in king Guttorm’s infancy. Haakon was Inge’s older half-brother, the son of Cecilia and Folkvid. However, Eirik, archbishop of Nidaros, and the farmers of Trøndelag insisted on choosing Inge, who had until then ruled Trøndelag under Guttorm. A compromise was reached, whereby Inge became king, while earl Haakon became leader of the army, and received half the royal income.
and Oslo
, king Inge controlled Trøndelag with Nidaros, while Bergen in western Norway changed hands several times. On 22 April 1206 the bagler attacked Nidaros during wedding celebrations for Inge’s sister Sigrid, and Inge himself only barely escaped with his life after swimming the Nidelva
river in freezing temperatures. The next year, the birkebeiner launched a successful attack on the bagler stronghold of Tønsberg, but the war dragged on with neither side able to gain a decisive victory. In autumn of 1207, archbishop Tore of Nidaros and bishop Nikolas of Oslo, a prominent bagler, started negotiations for a settlement of the birkebeiner and bagler. They succeeded in bringing about a meeting between the kings Inge and Philippus, and earl Haakon, at Kvitsøy
in Rogaland
in the autumn of 1208. A settlement was made, whereby Philippus agreed to give up the title of king and his royal seal. He was to remain in control of eastern Norway with Viken, except Bohuslän
, with the title of earl under king Inge. Earl Haakon was given western Norway with Bergen, while Inge would be the only king, overlord of Philippus and Haakon and direct ruler of Trøndelag with Nidaros. To seal the treaty, Philippus married king Sverre’s daughter and king Inge’s cousin, Kristina Sverresdotter.
The peace treaty held for the rest of Inge’s reign. However, Philippus did not respect its provisions and continued to use the title of king, and kept his royal seal. The relationship between Inge and his brother Haakon seems to have been at times tense. When it became clear that Philippus was continuing to call himself king, Haakon 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. Haakon had a legitimate son, while Inge only had an illegitimate son, Guttorm (b. 1206) by a concubine called Gyrid. In 1214, Inge suppressed a rising by the farmers of Trøndelag – earl Haakon was suspected of having had a hand in the rising. Open conflict between the two brothers never broke out, however, and Haakon died of natural causes in Bergen just after Christmas of 1214. Inge took over his part of the kingdom.
In 1217, Inge fell ill in Nidaros. During his illness, he appointed his younger half-brother, Skule Bårdsson
, earl and leader of the army. On 23 April 1217, Inge died. He was buried in Nidaros Cathedral
. He was succeeded as king by the 13-year-old Haakon Haakonsson
, an illegitimate grandson of king Sverre, who had been raised at the courts of king Inge and earl Haakon since they became aware of his existence in 1206. Skule continued as earl and de facto ruler for the next few years.
The bagler sagas
- a contemporary source - describes Inge as a quiet and calm man, who shied away from feasting and preferred to spend his time in his own quarters with close friends - a character trait which was held against him by some of his men. He was weak of health after his near brush with death during the attack on Nidaros in 1206.
. The first Norwegian royal letter to survive dates from the days of Inge's reign, however, it was written by Inge's rival Philippus.
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Inge Baardson (Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
: Inge Bårdsson, Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
: Ingi Bárðarson) (1185 – 23 April 1217) was king of Norway from 1204 to 1217. His reign was within the later stages of the period known in Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
history as the age of civil wars
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...
. Inge was the king 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...
faction. The conclusion of the settlement of Kvitsøy with 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....
faction in 1208 led to peace for the last nine years of Inge’s reigns, at the price of Inge and the birkebeiner recognising bagler rule over Viken (the Oslofjord
Oslofjord
The Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north....
-area).
Background
Inge’s father, Bård, was a prominent lendmannLendmann
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...
from the 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...
region. He was an early supporter of king 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....
, who brought the birkebeiner faction to power in the late 12th century after years of war against king Magnus Erlingsson
Magnus V of Norway
Magnus V Erlingsson was a King of Norway during the Civil war era in Norway.-Biography:Magnus Erlingsson was probably born in Etne in Hordaland. He was the son of Erling Skakke. His father was a Norwegian nobleman who earned his reputation crusading with Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, the Earl of Orkney...
. Inge’s mother, Cecilia, was the daughter of an earlier 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...
. She had been married to 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...
Folkvid
Folkvid 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...
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....
. After her brother, Sverre, had won the throne of Norway, she left her husband and travelled to Sverre in Norway, claiming she had been wedded to Folkvid against her will. The archbishop annulled her marriage to Folkvid, and Sverre gave her to his trusted follower Bård Guttormsson in marriage. Inge was Bård and Cecilia’s only son.
Accession
After king Sverre died in 1202, his son, HaakonHaakon III of Norway
Håkon III was king of Norway from 1202 to 1204.-Biography:...
, and his grandson, 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...
, died within two years. The birkebeiner were thus left without any direct successors of Sverre to choose as their king (the existence of another grandson of Sverre, Haakon Haakonsson
Haakon IV of Norway
Haakon Haakonarson , also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. Under his rule, medieval Norway reached its peak....
, was as yet unknown to them). Sverre’s old adversaries, the bagler, were exploiting the situation to launch a new invasion of Viken under their king, Erling Steinvegg
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...
. After the infant king Guttorm’s death in August 1204, the birkebeiner needed a strong leader to oppose the bagler threat. The birkebeiner leaders wanted earl Haakon the Crazy
Haakon the Crazy
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...
, who had earlier been appointed to rule the kingdom in king Guttorm’s infancy. Haakon was Inge’s older half-brother, the son of Cecilia and Folkvid. However, Eirik, archbishop of Nidaros, and the farmers of Trøndelag insisted on choosing Inge, who had until then ruled Trøndelag under Guttorm. A compromise was reached, whereby Inge became king, while earl Haakon became leader of the army, and received half the royal income.
Reign
The next four years saw intense fighting between the birkebeiner and the bagler. The bagler king Erling died in 1206, but the bagler continued the fight under their new king, Philippus Simonsson. The bagler mostly controlled the Viken area, with the cities of TønsbergTønsberg
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, southern Norway, located around north-east of Sandefjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg....
and Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, king Inge controlled Trøndelag with Nidaros, while Bergen in western Norway changed hands several times. On 22 April 1206 the bagler attacked Nidaros during wedding celebrations for Inge’s sister Sigrid, and Inge himself only barely escaped with his life after swimming the Nidelva
Nidelva
Nidelva or Nidelven is a river in the county Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. Elva or Elven is Norwegian for river, so the name translates to "Nid River".-Location:...
river in freezing temperatures. The next year, the birkebeiner launched a successful attack on the bagler stronghold of Tønsberg, but the war dragged on with neither side able to gain a decisive victory. In autumn of 1207, archbishop Tore of Nidaros and bishop Nikolas of Oslo, a prominent bagler, started negotiations for a settlement of the birkebeiner and bagler. They succeeded in bringing about a meeting between the kings Inge and Philippus, and earl Haakon, at 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...
in Rogaland
Rogaland
is a county in Western Norway, bordering Hordaland, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. It is the center of the Norwegian petroleum industry, and as a result of this, Rogaland has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Norway, 1.1%...
in the autumn of 1208. A settlement was made, whereby Philippus agreed to give up the title of king and his royal seal. He was to remain in control of eastern Norway with Viken, except Bohuslän
Bohuslän
' is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Götaland on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the west, and the county of Østfold in Norway to the north...
, with the title of earl under king Inge. Earl Haakon was given western Norway with Bergen, while Inge would be the only king, overlord of Philippus and Haakon and direct ruler of Trøndelag with Nidaros. To seal the treaty, Philippus married king Sverre’s daughter and king Inge’s cousin, Kristina Sverresdotter.
The peace treaty held for the rest of Inge’s reign. However, Philippus did not respect its provisions and continued to use the title of king, and kept his royal seal. The relationship between Inge and his brother Haakon seems to have been at times tense. When it became clear that Philippus was continuing to call himself king, Haakon 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. Haakon had a legitimate son, while Inge only had an illegitimate son, Guttorm (b. 1206) by a concubine called Gyrid. In 1214, Inge suppressed a rising by the farmers of Trøndelag – earl Haakon was suspected of having had a hand in the rising. Open conflict between the two brothers never broke out, however, and Haakon died of natural causes in Bergen just after Christmas of 1214. Inge took over his part of the kingdom.
In 1217, Inge fell ill in Nidaros. During his illness, he appointed his younger half-brother, Skule Bårdsson
Skule Bårdsson
Skule Baardsson or Duke Skule was a Norwegian nobleman and claimant to the royal throne against his son-in-law, King Haakon Haakonsson. Henrik Ibsen's play Kongs-Emnerne is about the dispute between Duke Skule and King Haakon.-Biography:Skule Baardsson was born around 1189...
, earl and leader of the army. On 23 April 1217, Inge died. He was buried in Nidaros Cathedral
Nidaros Cathedral
Nidaros Cathedral is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It was the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros from its establishment in 1152 until its abolition in 1537. Since the Reformation, it has been the cathedral of the...
. He was succeeded as king by the 13-year-old Haakon Haakonsson
Haakon IV of Norway
Haakon Haakonarson , also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. Under his rule, medieval Norway reached its peak....
, an illegitimate grandson of king Sverre, who had been raised at the courts of king Inge and earl Haakon since they became aware of his existence in 1206. Skule continued as earl and de facto ruler for the next few years.
Appraisal of Inge
Many historians have seen Inge as a rather weak king. He never achieved control over all of Norway, and agreed to a power-sharing with the bagler, which he stuck to even though Philippus broke the agreement by continuing to style himself as "king". As a reaction to such views, others have claimed that Inge was a strong ruler, in that he was able to withstand the pressure of the more war-like among the birkebeiner and put a halt to the destructive civil wars for a time.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...
- a contemporary source - describes Inge as a quiet and calm man, who shied away from feasting and preferred to spend his time in his own quarters with close friends - a character trait which was held against him by some of his men. He was weak of health after his near brush with death during the attack on Nidaros in 1206.
Sources
Our main sources to Inge's reign are the bagler sagas, which were written during and shortly after his reign. Inge is also mentioned less extensively in the start of Håkon Håkonsson's sagaHákonar 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...
. The first Norwegian royal letter to survive dates from the days of Inge's reign, however, it was written by Inge's rival Philippus.