Shortly after the death of Harald Gille, his widow, Queen Ingerid, had married the liegeman, Ottar Birting of Throndhjem, who thus became King Inge’s stepfather and guardian, and who strengthened King Inge’s government much during his childhood. King Sigurd was not very friendly to Ottar Birting, because, as he thought, Ottar always took King Inge’s part. One evening Ottar was assassinated in Nidaros as he was going to the evening service. His relatives and friends accused King Sigurd of having instigated this deed and were much enraged against him. A peasant army under the leadership of King Eystein came to Nidaros and a conflict seemed inevitable. But King Sigurd then offered to clear himself by the ordeal of iron, and peace was made. King Sigurd hastened to the southern part of the country, and the ordeal was never heard of again. Many other things contributed to make Sigurd unpopular. As he grew up he became a very ungovernable and restless man. He was a stout and strong man, of a brisk appearance. He had light brown hair and quite a handsome face except that he had an ugly mouth. For that reason he was called Sigurd Mund (Mouth). His great immorality gave general offense to the people. He was not married, but had several illegitimate children.
In 1153 King Eystein made a cruise to the Orkneys. Some time after his return there was a quarrel between him and King Sigurd, because the latter had killed two of Eystein’s court-men. A conference to settle this affair was arranged in the winter (1154-55) in the Uplands. They not only settled their difficulty, but privately arranged for a meeting of the three kings in Bergen next summer. It was said that their plan was to depose King Inge and give him two or three estates and a certain income, as he had not health to be a king. Their plan might possibly have succeeded if it had not been for King Inge’s faithful man, Gregorius Dagson, who was then Inge’s guardian and adviser. He made preparations for the meeting, and when Sigurd arrived in Bergen, King Inge had a superior force. After some hostile acts, King Sigurd was attacked in his lodgings by Gregorius Dagson and slain, June 10, 1155. Two or three days after King Eystein arrived from the east with thirty ships. He had along with him his brother’s seven year old son Haakon, a son of King Sigurd. When he heard what had happened in Bergen, Eystein did not come up to the town, but anchored at Florevaag, while a reconciliation between the brothers was attempted. The result was that King Eystein returned to Viken and King Inge to Throndhjem, and they were in a way reconciled; but they did not meet each other.
About a year later, after several quarrels and provoking incidents, the two brothers met with hostile fleets at Fors, Ranrike, and made ready for battle. So many of King Eystein’s ships left him, however, and joined King Inge that Eystein had no choice but flight. He was captured by his brother-in-law, Simon Skalp, who murdered him after having allowed him to hear mass (August 21, 1157). King Eystein was buried in Fors Church.
Inge was now sole king, but it was only a short time that he was in undisputed possession of the country. The adherents of the late kings, Eystein and Sigurd, chose the latter’s son as their chief and gave him the title of king. He was then ten years old. He was afterward given the surname Herdebred, i.e., the broad-shouldered. Haakon and his adherents were outlawed by King Inge, who took possession of all their estates, after they had sought refuge in Sweden. Gregorius Dagson was then in Konungahella, where the danger was greatest, and had with him a strong and fine body of men, with which he defended the country. He defeated Haakon’s force in a decisive battle at Konungahella (1159). Later Haakon, who had strengthened his forces with a number of robbers and adventurers, harried the frontier districts in Viken. One day he came to the estate of Haldor Brynjolfson, a brother-in-law of Gregorius Dagson, set fire to the house and burned it. Haldor came out, but was instantly cut down together with his house-men; in all about twenty men were killed. Haldor’s wife, Sigrid, Gregorius Dagson’s sister, escaped to the forest in her night-dress; but the five year old Aamunde Gyrdson, a nephew of Gregorius, was carried away by Haakon’s men.
When Gregorius Dagson heard of this he took it much to heart, and set out to avenge the outrage. On January 7, 1161, Gregorius caught sight of Haakon’s force. There was a river, called Befia, between them, and in trying to cross it on the unsafe ice Gregorius fell through, and, while struggling to get ashore, was killed by an arrow shot by one of Haakon’s men. When King Inge, who was then in Oslo, heard of Gregorius Dagson’s death, he cried like a child, and, after having recovered himself, swore to attack Haakon, and either avenge his friend’s death or die in the attempt. On the 3d of February, 1161, King Inge’s spies brought him word that Haakon was coming toward the town (Oslo). The king ordered his men called together, and when they were drawn up in line they numbered nearly 4,800. When the night was well advanced, the spies came and informed the king that Haakon and his army were coming over the ice, which lay all the way from the town to the Hoved Isle. King Inge then led his army out on the ice, and drew it up in order of battle. The king and his brother Orm took their places under the banner in the centre. On the right wing, toward the nunnery, was Gudrod, the exiled king of the South Hebrides, and Jon Sveinson, a grandson of Bergthor Buk. On the left wing, toward Thrælaberg, stood the chiefs Simon Skalp and Gudbrand Skafhoggson, who was married to King Eystein Magnusson’s daughter Maria. When Haakon and his army came near to King Inge’s array, both sides raised a war shout. But then it appeared that there were traitors in Inge’s army. Gudrod and Jon gave the enemy a signal, and when Haakon’s men in consequence turned that way, Gudrod immediately fled with 1,800 men; and Jon, and a great body of men with him, ran over to Haakon’s army and assisted them in the fight. When this news was told to King Inge, he said: “Such is the difference between my friends. Never would Gregorius have done so in his life.” Some of Inge’s men now advised him to mount a horse and ride up to Raumarike, where he could get help. But he refused to do so. “I have heard you often say, and I think truly, that it was of little use to my brother Eystein that he took to flight; and yet he was in many ways an abler man than I. I was in the second year of my age when I was chosen king of Norway, and I am now twenty-six. I have had misfortune and sorrow under my kingly dignity, rather than pleasure and peaceful days. I have had many battles; and it is my greatest luck that I have never fled, even when fighting against a superior force. God will dispose of my life, but I shall never betake myself to flight.” As a result of the traitors’ work Haakon gained a complete victory. When daylight came, King Inge was among the fallen. His brother Orm tried to continue the battle, but at last had to take flight. On the following day Orm was to have married Ragna, a daughter of Nikolas Mase and widow of King Eystein; but after the battle Orm fled to Svithiod, Sweden, where his brother Magnus was then king. Haakon and his men took possession of the town, and feasted on what had been prepared for the wedding. Those of Inge’s friends who survived the battle fled in all directions. Only Kristina, Sigurd the Crusader’s daughter, remained in town, for she had a promise to the late king to fulfil. She found King Inge’s body, and had it laid in the stone wall of Halvard’s Church, on the south side below the choir.
CHAPTER XXV
The Church
FROM the time of Olaf Kyrre (the Quiet) there were three bishops in Norway; one in Nidaros, one in Bergen, and one in Oslo. During the reign of Kings Eystein and Sigurd the Crusader a bishopric was also established in Stavanger. The bishops were chosen by the king, and the bishops appointed the priests.
For the last half century the Norwegian Church, as well as the Swedish, had been under the Danish archbishop at Lund. This arrangement appeared very unsatisfactory, as the Norwegian Church covered extended territory which called for special supervision. Since the time of Sigurd the Crusader there had been a constant desire to obtain an independent Norwegian archbishopric. Finally, during the reign of Harald Gille’s sons, the pope sent Cardinal Nicholas Breakspear of Alba from Rome to Norway (1152). Cardinal Nicholas, who was an Englishman by birth and a very able and conscientious man, arrived in Nidaros, and seems to have immediately understood the situation. The saga says that he had taken offence at the brothers Sigurd and Eystein. The reason is not stated, but it was perhaps on account of their immoral life. “They were obliged to come to a reconciliation with him; on the other hand, he stood on the most affectionate terms with King Inge, whom he called his son.” When an understanding had been arranged with the kings, the cardinal had John Birgerson consecrated archbishop of Throndhjem and gave him the consecrated vestment called pallium. He further settled that the archbishop’s seat should be in Nidaros, in Christ Church, where King Olaf the Saint reposed. At the same time a new bishopric was established at Hamar, on Lake Miosen. Under the jurisdiction of the archbishopric at Nidaros were included the four other bishoprics of Norway, Oslo, Hamar, Stavanger, and Bergen, and those of the dependencies, Iceland, the Orkneys, the Faroes, Greenland, and the Hebrides with the Isle of Man.
The establishment of the archbishopric at Nidaros was probably the most important result of the mission of Cardinal Nicholas, but he also left other traces of his work. He changed the manner of choosing bishops, so that instead of being appointed by the king they were now to be elected by the canonical communities established at the cathedrals. The bishops after this exercised much greater authority than they had done before.