Earl Skule continued his intriguing for the ultimate overthrow of the king, and, while strengthening himself at home, negotiated with the king of Denmark for aid from that quarter. Meanwhile King Haakon did everything to retain the earl’s allegiance. In 1233 a meeting was held in Bergen, where a new compact was made, only to be broken shortly afterward by the earl. When the king discovered that the earl had tried to involve him in a conflict with the Church, and had sent damaging reports about him to Rome, he again summoned him to a meeting in Bergen. This time Earl Skule did not see fit to come to the meeting, but proceeded with an army across the mountains to the Uplands, thus entering the reserved territory of the king. Through the mediation of the archbishop peace was patched up for the coming winter, on the condition that the earl was to have one-third of all the prefectures. The following year a new agreement was made, by which Skule was to retain the privileges thus obtained in the southern part of the country, besides which he was raised to the rank of duke, a title which no one so far had held in Norway.
Nothing, however, seemed to satisfy Skule short of the dignity of king. He prepared himself in every way for an open conflict—built and equipped ships, and steadily increased his force of warriors. His followers were called the “Varbelgs,” the same name that a rebellious party during the reign of King Sverre had carried. In November, 1239, Duke Skule convened the Oere-Thing, where he had his friends proclaim him king of Norway, whereupon he made the usual oath of fidelity to the laws, with his hand upon Saint Olaf’s shrine, which had been forcibly taken from the cathedral and carried to the Thing.
There was now open war between Duke Skule and King Haakon. The duke proceeded south to the Uplands with an army of six hundred men. At Laaka, Raumarike, he met and defeated the king’s forces under Squire Knut, who had been appointed earl in Skule’s place. After this victory he proceeded to Oslo, but here he was soon afterward attacked by King Haakon and was badly defeated. A great many of the Varbelgs fell in the battle, while others surrendered to the king and were pardoned. Duke Skule with a few men escaped and fled north to Nidaros. Shortly afterward the town was suddenly attacked by the Birchlegs, who, after the battle of Oslo, had been sent north by King Haakon with a fleet under the command of Aasulf of Austraat, one of Skule’s bitter enemies. Duke Skule, awoke by the alarm, armed himself and sent his messengers around in the town to call the Varbelgs together; but they would not obey orders, and his men took refuge in the churches. Skule himself crossed the Nid River and hid himself with a few men in a forest near by. Two days later the monks at Elgeseter Cloister sent them cloaks, and thus disguised they reached the cloister. The Birchlegs, however, discovered the duke’s whereabout, and, proceeding to the cloister, demanded that he be delivered up. This being refused they set fire to the building. Skule then came out with his men, and they were all slain, May 24, 1240.
After the fall of Skule the rebellion of the Varbelgs died out completely, the power of King Haakon was undisputed, and the country could at last enjoy peace and order. On Saint Olaf’s Day, July 29, 1247, King Haakon was crowned with grand ceremonies in Christ Church in Bergen by Cardinal William of Sabina, whom the Pope had sent north for that purpose. At the grand feast that followed there were so many people present that there was not room enough in the king’s mansion, and the king therefore had a huge boat-house temporarily fitted out as a festival hall, the walls being covered with colored cloth, and the hall furnished with costly benches with gold-embroidered silk cushions. This feast lasted for three days, and after that the king gave a party, lasting five days, in the royal home for the cardinal and the most prominent men. When the cardinal departed from Norway, the king sent with him 15,000 marks sterling as a gift to the Pope, and also gave the cardinal personally fine presents.
The reign of King Haakon, after peace had been restored, was very beneficial to the country. He improved the laws, and, among other changes, abolished the ordeal of fire. This was done after consultation with the visiting cardinal, who declared that it was not proper for Christians to challenge God to give his verdict in human affairs. It was decided that at the death of a king the oldest legitimate son was to succeed to the throne, and the kingdom was not to be divided between two or more princes. In architecture great progress was made, and a great deal of money was spent for the erection of monasteries, churches and royal mansions. A wall was built around the royal mansion in Bergen; this wall was the beginning of the fort afterward called Bergenhus. King Haakon also built the grand royal hall in Bergen and a hospital for lepers. In Tunsberg he built a monastery, and the strong wall of the fort is still to be seen. He began to Christianize the Finns and built churches for them. The church which he built at Tromsœ was the northernmost Christian church in the world.
King Haakon gained a high reputation in foreign countries. The Russian grand-duke, Vasilij, asked for the hand of his daughter Christina, and the Spanish king, Alfonso X. of Castile, wooed her for one of his brothers. The latter suit was accepted, and Christina was married to the Spanish prince, Don Philip, in 1257. The pope wanted Haakon for emperor of Germany, and the French king, Louis IX., urged him to take the command of a crusade.
During the reign of King Haakon, in 1261, Greenland was made a dependency of Norway, and the next year Iceland acknowledged the supremacy of Norway. The Icelanders agreed to pay the king of Norway a tribute; but they were to retain their own laws and their own officers.
In the summer of 1263 King Haakon sailed with a strong fleet and a large army westward to make war on Alexander III. of Scotland, who had tried to annex the Norwegian possessions west and north of Scotland. King Haakon proceeded to the Sudr Islands (the Hebrides), where he met with terrible storms, during which his fleet suffered considerable loss. In a battle at Largs, near the entrance to the Firth of Clyde, some of Haakon’s best men fell. Scotch and Norwegian accounts differ as to which side was really defeated; but even from Scotch sources it appears that there was for some time afterward a great dread of the reappearance of “the black fleet of Norway.” A contemporary Scotch poet and soothsayer, Thomas of Erceldoune, wrote:
It will be seen upon a day
Between the Bass and Bay,
Craigin and Fidderay,
The black fleet of Norroway.
Quhen the black fleet is come and gane,
Then may they bigg thair burgh of lime and stane
Quhilk they biggit of straw and hay—
That will stand till doomes day.
Shortly after the battle at Largs, King Haakon retired to the Orkneys, intending to winter there and to renew the attack in the spring. In the town of Kirkevaag (Orkneys) he was taken seriously ill; dying December 15, 1263. During his illness he had his men read aloud to him portions of the Bible and several books in Latin. Afterward he had Norwegian books read to him, first the stories of holy men (legends) and afterward the sagas of his ancestors, from Halfdan the Black down to his grandfather, King Sverre. During the reading of Sverre’s saga he sank rapidly, and toward midnight, when King Sverre’s saga was finished, he expired.