The Story of Norway

by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

CHAPTER XXV.

HAAKON SVERRESSON (1202-1204).

In his dying message to his son Sverre advised him to make peace with the Church. He foresaw that the interdict which was weighing heavily upon the land would be an increasingly powerful weapon in the hands of the Baglers, and would continue to alienate the hearts of the people from the king. Haakon, who had not personally been engaged in the controversy, could, without loss of dignity, make overtures for a reconciliation, and might, if necessary, make concessions. The bishops were, however, so tired of their long exile and dependence upon foreign bounty, that they accepted with eagerness his offer of peace and hastened to return to their bishoprics. What the terms of the reconciliation were we do not know. The old Archbishop Erik, who was now blind and decrepit, was especially glad to return home, as his patron, Archbishop Absalon, had recently died, and his position in Denmark, as a dependent of the king, was scarcely an agreeable one. No sooner had he set foot on Norse soil than he declared the interdict revoked, without even awaiting the Pope's consent—a rashness for which he was later rebuked by Innocent III. The Pope, however, though he no doubt enjoyed wielding the tremendous weapons of his wrath, acquiesced in the terms of the peace, and had no fault to find with the new king's attitude toward the Church. The fact was, Haakon Sverresson was a gentle and lovable character, who delighted in peace rather than war. All the people, weary of the long and bloody civil feud, felt drawn toward him and hastened to acknowledge him. After his proclamation as king at Oere-thing, and the revocation of the interdict, he was undisputed master of the land; and the star of the Baglers seemed forever to have set. Many of their influential chiefs deserted to Haakon; and their so-called king, Inge, was slain on an island in Mjösen by his own men and the peasants. Bishop Nicholas exchanged temporarily the helmet for the mitre, and kept as quiet as his restlessly intriguing mind would permit. Reidar Messenger had, after his capitulation at Tunsberg, sworn fidelity to Sverre, and meant to keep faith with his son. It seemed therefore that, at last, all dangers were removed, and that the young and popular king had a prospect of a long and happy reign. Then, as a bolt of lightning out of a sunny sky, came a calamity which suddenly plunged the country again into war and misery.

We have heard that Sverre married Margaret, the daughter of the Swedish king, Erik the Saint. He had with her no sons, but a daughter, Christina. His two sons, Sigurd Lavard, who died before his father, and Haakon, were born on the Faeroe Isles; and their mother was Astrid, the daughter of Bishop Roe. It is probable that Sverre was married to her, but it is told that he did not bring her to Norway, because she had been unfaithful to him. According to a tradition, however, she was brought to Norway by her son, who gave her a large estate near Nidaros and treated her with consideration and kindness. This act Haakon's step-mother, the queen-dowager Margaret, regarded as an insult to her, and determined to leave the country. Being a passionate and imperious woman, proud of her birth and relentless in her hate, she imagined that she was not accorded the honor that was her due at the court, and she particularly took offence because the king claimed precedence before her. Being averse to strife, he did his best to conciliate her, but with small success. The queen-dowager betook herself to Oslo with her daughter, intending thence to proceed to Sweden, where she owned large estates. The king, though he did not dispute her right to leave, denied her right to take with her his half-sister, whose natural guardian he was; and sent his cousin, Peter Steyper, to induce her to desist from her resolution. The queen, however, remained obdurate. She would not concede that Haakon had any right over her child. Finding threats and persuasion unavailing, Peter Steyper attempted a stratagem. He burst into the princess' room, while her mother was taking a bath, crying at the top of his voice that the Baglers had come to town. Christina implored him in terror to save her; whereupon he seized her in his arms and ran with her down to the piers, jumped on board of his ship, and set sail. The queen, as soon as she heard the noise, rushed into the street, and reached the pier just as the ship was gliding from its moorings. Beside herself with wrath, she screamed after the Birchlegs: "Would that I may live to see the day when I shall cause you as great a sorrow as you to-day have caused me."

Much more that she cried they did not hear, for her voice came more faintly to them through the wind, as the distance increased. From that day she hated the king, though it is by no means clear that he approved of Peter Steyper's violence. Finding her position in Sweden less agreeable than she had expected, she was soon induced to return to Norway, where she became a centre of mischievous intrigue. Among her partisans was the king's cousin, Haakon Galen, a son of Sigurd Mouth's daughter Cecilia and Folkvid the Lawman, a brave and reckless youth who was deeply in love with the queen's niece, Mistress Christina.[A] Over him the two women, both of whom were arch-plotters, had considerable influence, and the desire rose in them to put him on the throne in his cousin's place. King Haakon, who, if he had suspected his stepmother's design, would have been on his guard, furnished her now with the opportunity for accomplishing her evil purpose. He invited her and her daughter to his Yule-tide feast, offering her the high-seat at his own side. So far from being conciliated by this offer, the queen burst forth vehemently: "Long shall I remember how I sat in the high-seat with my lord, King Sverre, on Christmas Eve. Bring my greeting to King Haakon, and tell him that I shall not share his high-seat to-night."

[A] Not the same as the Princess Christina, Sverre's and Margaret's daughter.

The king was aggrieved at this rebuff, and sent a second message, begging her at least to allow his sister Christina to grace his feast by her presence. The messenger added that the king was very wroth.

"Does he suppose," cried Margaret, "that I do not remember how he caused my daughter to be torn away from me at Oslo, without his reminding me of it into the bargain?"