Sigurd Magnusson
Encyclopedia
Sigurd Magnusson was a Norwegian nobleman who campaigned against King Sverre of Norway
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....

 during the Civil war era in Norway
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...

.

Background

Sigurd Magnusson was the son of King Magnus V of Norway
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...

 and Gyrid Aslak. Sigurd Magnusson was the only publicly acknowledged son of King Magnus. Several years of warfare with Sverre Sigurdsson had ended with the defeat and death of King Magnus in the Battle of Fimreite
Fimreite
Fimreite is a small village in the municipality of Sogndal in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The village is located along the Sognefjord, about southwest of Sogndalsfjøra and about southwest of Kaupanger...

 (Slaget ved Fimreite) in 1184. In the aftermath, groups made up principally of the Norwegian aristocracy, clergy and merchants was formed to depose King Sverre.

The young Sigurd was proclaimed to be King of Norway in 1193 at the Haugathing near Tønsberg
Tønsberg
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....

. As the son of Magnus Erlingsson, Sigurd was the nominal king supported by the so-called Isle Beards (Øyskjeggs). The real leader was Hallkjell Jonsson, who had been a son-in law of Erling Skakke
Erling Skakke
Erling Skakke was a Norwegian Jarl during the 12th century. He was the father of Magnus V, who reigned as King of Norway from 1161 to 1184....

 as well as the brother-in-law of King Magnus. With Harald Maddadsson
Harald Maddadsson
Harald Maddadsson was Earl of Orkney and Mormaer of Caithness from 1139 until 1206. He was the son of Matad, Mormaer of Atholl, and Margaret, daughter of Earl Haakon Paulsson of Orkney...

, the Earl of Orkney
Earl of Orkney
The Earl of Orkney was originally a Norse jarl ruling Orkney, Shetland and parts of Caithness and Sutherland. The Earls were periodically subject to the kings of Norway for the Northern Isles, and later also to the kings of Alba for those parts of their territory in mainland Scotland . The Earl's...

, Hallkjell gathered most of his men on Orkney and Shetland, hence the name of the group. After establishing themselves in Viken
Viken
Viken was the historical name for the district in southeastern Norway, including the area surrounding the Oslofjord and Skagerrak, the strait running between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark.-History:...

, the Øyskjeggs sailed on to Bergen. Although they occupied the city itself and the surrounding regions, a force of 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...

s held on in the fortress of Sverresborg
Sverresborg (Bergen)
Sverresborg is a fortress and former castle situated in the Norwegian city of Bergen.-History:It was built by king Sverre Sigurdsson in the mid 1180's, 250 meters northeast of Bergenhus fortress. King Sverre Sigurdsson also had a Sverresborg built in Trondheim...

.

Battle of Florvåg

In the spring of 1194, King Sverre sailed south to confront the Øyskjeggs. The two fleets met at Florvåg on Askøy
Askøy
Askøy is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Since the opening of the Askøy Bridge leading to the mainland in Bergen in 1992, the population has increased rapidly. Its population growth is as of 2008 among the highest in Norway...

, an island just north of Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

. King Sverre and his force confronted Sigurd Magnusson and the Øyskjeggs. King Sverre came to Gravdal
Gravdal, Hordaland
Gravdal is a neighborhood in Laksevåg, Bergen, Norway. It is located in the valley between Damsgårdsfjellet and Lyderhorn, with the Byfjorden to the north and Gravdalsvatnet to the south....

 with a vast fleet, which rowed over to Florvågøya. On the morning of Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....

, 3 April 1194 the battle took place. Here the battle experience of the Birkebeiner veterans proved to be decisive. Hallkjell fell with most of his men. King Sverre won, but around 2,500 soldiers were killed in the bloody battle.

Sigurd Magnusson's corpse was shown in Bergen, in order to demonstrate King Sverre's power and also to prevent any impostors claiming to be the young prince. His body was buried in Mariakyrkjegarden, the churchyard of the St Mary's Church
St Mary's Church, Bergen
St Mary's Church is a church in Bergen, Norway. The construction of the church is believed to have started in the 1130s or 40s and completed around 1180, making the church the oldest remaining building in Bergen.-History:...

 in Bergen.

Historic context

The civil wars period of Norwegian history
History of Norway
The history of human settlement in what is present day Norway goes back at least 11,000 years, to the late Paleolithic. Archaeological finds in the county of Møre og Romsdal have been dated to 9,200 BC and are probably the remains of settlers from Doggerland, an area now submerged in the North Sea,...

 lasted from 1130 to 1240. During this period there were several interlocked conflicts of varying scale and intensity. The background for these conflicts was the unclear Norwegian succession laws, social conditions and the struggle between Church and King. There were then two main parties, firstly known by varying names or no names at all, but finally condensed into parties of 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....

 and 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...

. The rallying point regularly was a royal son, who was set up as the head figure of the party in question, to oppose the rule of the king from the contesting party.

Sources

The most important historical source on the life of Sigurd Magnusson is contained in the Sverris Saga
Sverris saga
Sverris saga is one of the kings' sagas. Its subject is King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway and it is the main source for this period of Norwegian history. As the foreword tells us, the saga in its final form consists of more than one part. Work first began in 1185 under the king’s direct supervision...

. This saga is likely biased, since the foreword states that part was written under King Sverre’s direct sponsorship. Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...

, written ca. 1230 by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...

, contains background information.

Other sources

  • McDonald, R. Andrew The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland's Western Seaboard, c. 1100–c. 1336 (Tuckwell, West Linton, 1997)
  • Lidén, Hans-Emil Mariakirken i Bergen (Bergen: Mangschou. 2000)
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