In the winter of 1216-17 King Inge was taken sick, and when he could no longer attend to the public affairs he appointed his half-brother, Skule Baardson, as regent with the title of earl. King Inge died April 23, 1217, and Earl Skule had him buried with great ceremony in Christ Church in Nidaros.
CHAPTER XXX
Haakon Haakonson the Old (1217-1263)
AFTER the death of King Inge, the discord which had been fermenting began to show itself. The ambitious Earl Skule, while pretending to favor King Inge’s young son, Guthorm, really considered himself the successor to the throne, while a few, who had been special friends of the late Earl Haakon Galen, favored the latter’s son Knut, who was with his mother in Sweden. Earl Skule had the aid and sympathy of Archbishop Guthorm and the other dignitaries of the cathedral at Nidaros, and advocated a postponement of the election of a king, until the archbishop, who was absent on a journey, should return. In spite of all intriguing, however, the Birchlegs summoned the Oere-Thing and proclaimed Haakon Haakonson king of Norway, and he swore fidelity to the laws of the country, although he could not, according to usage, do so on the shrine of Saint Olaf, because the canons of the cathedral refused to allow the shrine to be taken out of the church and carried to the Thing. The next day all the court-men and the delegates present took the oath of allegiance to Haakon as king and to Skule as earl. The king and the earl now proceeded to Bergen, where the Gula-Thing was summoned, in order that Haakon might also be proclaimed king there. The day before the Thing a meeting was held [Pg 200]by the king and the earl and their advisers. The king’s advisers suggested that Earl Skule should swear an oath of allegiance to King Haakon; but this the earl bluntly refused to do, unless he was given in fief one-third of the kingdom and of its dependencies. As it was learned that the earl had been negotiating with the so-called Bagler king, Philip, in Viken, and the king’s party was hardly strong enough to fight a combination of that kind, it was thought that there was nothing to do but to acquiesce in the earl’s demands. The next day, at the Thing, King Haakon made his oath to uphold the laws, but the wily earl had made use of his position as the king’s guardian to insert in the oath a pledge to keep the agreement already made between the king and the earl. Shortly after this, news was received that the Bagler king, Philip, was dead. King Haakon and Earl Skule immediately proceeded to Viken, where, at the suggestion of Bishop Nicholas, negotiations were opened with the Baglers. It was finally decided that the Baglers should retain, during the coming winter, one-half of the fiefs which Philip had held as earl, and that both parties should send men north to the archbishop to request him, next summer, to arrange a permanent peace. The other half of Viken was given up to King Haakon and Earl Skule, who appointed prefects there. Thereupon they summoned the Hauga-Thing, where Haakon was acknowledged as the rightful king.
King Haakon had several enemies to contend with, and the most dangerous among them were by no means those who were in open rebellion. A new band of rebels was organized under the leadership of a chaplain by the name of Benedict, or Bene Skinkniv (Skin knife), as the peasants called him, who claimed to be a son of King Magnus Erlingson. His followers were originally mostly thieves and bandits, who only sought an opportunity for robbery and plunder. On account of their ragged appearance they were called the “Slitungs” (vagabonds or “tramps”). After a short campaign against the Slitungs, the king and the earl returned northward. When they arrived in Nidaros, the earl was received with the utmost courtesy by the archbishop, but the latter refused to show the proper honor to the king; and the reason being given that there was some doubt as to whether Haakon was really the son of Haakon Sverreson, it was agreed that his mother, Inga of Varteig, was to submit to the ordeal of fire. This was done in Bergen in the presence of the king, the earl, the archbishop, and other bishops and chiefs. The result was in every way satisfactory. The church declared that King Haakon had proved his paternity, and Earl Skule was for the time being apparently reconciled with the king.
The strained relations between Earl Skule and the king soon came to the surface again, however, and there were frequent conflicts between the “earl’s-men” and the “king’s-men.” The friends of both finally came to the conclusion that something ought to be done to bind them together by common interests, and as the best means to this end they proposed a marriage between King Haakon and the earl’s daughter, Margreta. The plan was accepted by both parties, and the betrothal took place in September, 1219. The actual marriage was preliminarily postponed on account of the tender age of both parties, the king being then about fourteen years and the bride scarcely more than nine years old.
During the next winter a new band of rebels was organized in Viken by Gudolf of Blakkestad, a former prefect, who had been discharged from office on account of his harsh treatment of the peasants. The Slitungs joined the new party, which was commonly called the Ribbungs (robbers). They chose as their leader and candidate for the throne a young man by the name of Sigurd, who claimed to be the son of the former Bagler king, Erling Steinvegg. They seem to have had the secret support of Bishop Nicholas, in spite of the fact that the latter had professed friendship for King Haakon. After having fought this party for about two years and defeated it several times, Earl Skule induced Bishop Nicholas to assist in ending the struggle. In the spring of 1223, Sigurd Ribbung made overtures for peace, but had the audacity to demand as a condition for laying down his arms one third of the kingdom and the earl’s daughter in marriage. The earl answered that he would not give his daughter away to live in the woods, and as for the third of the kingdom he would have to apply to King Haakon; but he promised Sigurd and his men amnesty and safe conduct, in case Sigurd wished to apply personally to the king. Although these conditions were more severe than expected, Sigurd Ribbung surrendered. The earl was greatly praised for having gained this victory without a battle, in having induced such a mighty force to lay down their arms, and thus secured peace throughout the country. This peace, however, was not as complete as it was thought; for the earl was at this time cherishing more far-reaching plans than ever before. It appears that he had made a levy of troops and taxes outside of his own fiefs, and had been reprimanded for this in a letter from King Haakon. After having made peace with the Ribbungs, he immediately sailed for Denmark, it being no doubt his intention to renounce his allegiance to King Haakon, and, with the aid of the Danish king, take possession of the country and hold it in fief from him. Upon arriving in Copenhagen he learned that King Valdemar (the Victorious) had been taken prisoner by Count Henry of Schwerin and brought to Mecklenburg. Earl Skule, therefore, was obliged to return and continue to feign friendship for King Haakon. At a state meeting in Bergen in the fall of 1223, where the archbishop, the bishops, and other leading men of the country were present, Haakon’s right to the throne was reaffirmed, and Earl Skule agreed to take the northern third of the country in fief instead of the southern part, which he had held before.
By the agreement at the state meeting in Bergen, Norway was divided into two domains, of which that of the king included Viken, the Uplands, and the Gulathingslag, except Söndmöre, while that of the earl included everything north of the king’s domain, and this division remained in force for over fifteen years. The earl made his headquarters in Nidaros, while the king took up his residence in Oslo. Sigurd Ribbung remained with the earl, who had promised to watch him, but escaped during the summer of 1224, and again organized a band of rebels who resumed their old guerilla warfare. Whenever they were met by a superior force, they would make their escape across the frontier into the Swedish province of Vermeland, where they had many adherents. At last King Haakon found it necessary to invade Vermeland with an army of 2,400 men, early in 1225, in order to punish the inhabitants. He burned a great number of houses, but did not succeed in meeting the Ribbungs in any decisive battle.
In April, King Haakon proceeded to Bergen, in order to celebrate his marriage with Earl Skule’s daughter, Margreta. The earl received him apparently with great cordiality, and grand preparations were made for the wedding, which took place May 25, 1225. This marriage had been dictated by political considerations; but Earl Skule derived no direct benefits from it, for during all the later struggles Margreta stood faithfully by her husband, in spite of the fact that the principal opponent was her own father.
The Ribbungs continued their guerilla warfare, secretly aided by Bishop Nicholas. The latter died in Oslo, November 7, 1225, after having asked and obtained the king’s forgiveness for all his treachery. He was between seventy and eighty years old at the time of his death. During the winter Earl Skule and the archbishop at Nidaros attempted to negotiate peace between the Ribbungs and the king, but without any success. In the spring of 1226 Sigurd Ribbung was taken sick and died, and Squire Knut, the son of Haakon Galen and Christina, was induced to become the chief of the Ribbungs. The Ribbungs suffered several reverses, and in the following year Squire Knut disbanded his army and submitted to King Haakon, whose devoted friend he ever remained.