CHAPTER XXIV.
SVERRE SIGURDSSON (1182-1202).
It was a dangerous precedent Sverre established when, without any other proof of his royal birth than his own assertion, he ascended the throne of Norway. The prospect was thus opened to any ambitious adventurer, skilled in mendacity and the use of arms, to snatch the crown at the point of the sword. The mere fact that a doubt existed in the minds of many, as to Sverre's origin, was in itself demoralizing. It destroyed that bond of loyalty which had hitherto bound the people to the descendants of Harold the Fairhaired, and made it easy for unscrupulous pretenders, by the prospect of booty, to entice men into rebellion. We see, therefore, during Sverre's reign and that of his immediate successors, an abundant crop of pretenders and rebellious bands start up in different parts of the country, only to be cut down after a more or less extended existence by the constituted authority.
That Sverre, in a measure, had himself to thank for this state of things he must have been well aware; and the frequency of his insistence upon his mission to deliver Norway from the illegal sway of Erling Skakke's son shows how anxious he was, lest the same thought should occur to others. Even though he was the son of Sigurd Mouth (which, is indeed, probable), he must have seen that the people were suffering no hardships from Magnus' mild exercise of his power, while the wars which were directly and indirectly inflicted upon the realm by his own pretendership shook it to its very core. In the rôle of a deliverer Sverre was therefore scarcely sincere, and a certain insecurity in his position, springing, perhaps, from an inward doubt, made him at times appear with less dignity than we might expect in a man of his genius and power. Thus, when in 1181 a man named Erik, whose origin seems wrapped in obscurity, obtained permission to prove by ordeal that he was Sigurd Mouth's son, Sverre insisted upon inserting in his oath the words "and Sverre's brother," thereby obtaining, as it were, a surreptitious proof of his own descent from the royal house. Erik, however, objected to assuming this double responsibility, but succeeded in proving the truth of his assertion in regard to himself. He was from this time named Erik Kingsson; but pledged himself never to aspire to the crown. Sverre gave him first command of his household troops and made him later Earl of Viken.
Sverre's first endeavor, after having become sole ruler in the land, was to strengthen the foundation of his throne. An alliance with the aristocracy who had hitherto wielded the greatest influence was out of the question, first because the magnates had been the partisans of Magnus, and secondly, because to the Birchlegs, to whom Sverre owed his power, such an alliance would have been odious. He therefore determined to seek the supports of his kingship among the same class, from which his Birchlegs had come, viz., the tenants, small farmers, and, in general, among the lower strata of the population. These men had hitherto been at the mercy of the chieftains; and though it was in the interest of the latter not to injure or maltreat them, their position was one of dependence and penury. They were practically beyond the pale of the law; because, if wronged by one of their superiors they lacked the means and influence to prosecute him at the thing. In order to improve the position of these lowly people and thereby gain their friendship, Sverre appointed a new class of officers, the so-called lawmen, whose business it should be to procure justice for the oppressed at small expense and without delay. As one of the first appointed lawmen, Gunnar Grjonbak in Tröndelag, said: "King Sverre, when he gave me this office, bade me administer justice among cottagers, not among chieftains." The lawmen were thus judges who, backed by the authority of the crown, were charged with the interests of the small, both in their mutual quarrels and in their quarrels with the great. That their appointment was a shrewd act, on Sverre's part, is obvious.
Another class of officers who, though they were not first appointed by Sverre, had more definite functions and duties assigned to them by him, were the prefects (syslu-madr[A]). They were not, like the liegemen, royal vassals who held land in fief and exercised independent authority, but servants of the king and the representatives of his power.[B] They collected the royal revenues in their districts, and watched over the interests of the crown. They thus deprived the liegemen of their principal functions and a large share of their income. As a measure intended to weaken the influence of the aristocracy, the appointment of these prefects was therefore most effective. Sverre was not minded to share his power with these haughty magnates, many of whom had not hesitated to barter away provinces and enter into alliances with foreign princes against their own king. He wished the crown to be strong enough to curb this unruly element, and by the aid of the small prevent the great from growing above his head. With great shrewdness and statesmanlike insight he began this work, which in one way or another absorbed his time and energy during his entire reign.