Skule Bårdsson or Duke Skule ( Norwegian: Hertug Skule) (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

: Skúli Bárðarson) ( – 24 May 1240) was a Norwegian nobleman and claimant to the royal throne against his son-in-law, King Haakon Haakonsson.

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...

's play '' Kongs-Emnerne'' (1863) is about the dispute between Duke Skule and King Haakon.

Biography

Skule Bårdsson was born around 1189. As a son of Bård Guttormsson, he belonged to the Norwegian nobility and was a half-brother of King Inge Bårdsson who in his last years elevated Skule to be an earl (''jarl''). After King Inge's death in 1217, Haakon was chosen king at the age of 13, against the candidacy of Skule Bårdsson. However, Skule held much of the real power under a form of power sharing between Skule and Haakon. Skule's center of power was mostly in

Nidaros Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss () was the medieval name of Trondheim when it was the capital of Norway's first Christian kings. It was named for its position at the mouth (Old Norse: ''óss'') of the River Nid (the present-day Nidelva). Althou ...

. He had noblemen who were handbound to him (his vassals/liegemen) such as Endrid Bookling, and Alf of Leifa-steads. These men would probably be somewhere between European count and high

Ministerialis The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minis ...

. In order to facilitate a compromise between these two rivals, Skule's elder daughter

Margaret Skulesdatter Margaret Skulesdatter (Old Norse: ''Margrét Skúladóttir'') (1208–1270) was a Norwegian queen consort, spouse of King Haakon IV of Norway and queen consort of Norway from 1225 to 1263. Biography Margrete was the daughter of Jarl Skule Bårdss ...

was married to King Haakon in 1225. Skule thought he had too little of the power and intermittently participated in opposition against King Haakon. In 1237, as another attempt of compromise, Skule was given the first Norwegian title of

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

(''hertug''). Later, Skule restarted his rebellion against King Haakon. Among others, the Icelander writer Snorre Sturlason allied with Skule in the conflict, and the rebellion led to his death. Skule got into a personal confrontation with Arnbjorn Jonsson over the Borg Stewardship but eventually Arnbjorn yielded his claim to the stewardship because Abbot Bjorn showed him that the king had indeed granted Skule the stewardship. Skule allowed his supporters to proclaim him king of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

at the traditional Thing (''Øyrating'') in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denma ...

during 1239. Skule also tried, unsuccessfully, to win his other son-in-law,

jarl Knut Haakonsson Knut Haakonsson (''Knut Håkonsson'', Old Norse ''Knútr Hákonarson'') (c. 1208–1261) was a Norwegian nobleman and claimant to the throne during the Civil war era in Norway. Biography Haakonsson was born the son of jarl Haakon the Crazy (' ...

, to his side. He raised a military host against King Haakon and won a battle at Låka in Nannestad, but lost in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. His party was called the ''Vårbelgs'', a reference to spring pelts of bad quality fur for poor people. In May 1240, Skule was defeated by King Haakon and his supporters. He sought refuge in

Elgeseter Priory Helgeseter Priory or Elgeseter Priory (''Elgeseter kloster'') was a medieval era house of Augustinian Canons in what is now the neighborhood of Elgeseter in Trondheim, Norway. History The monastery was founded by Archbishop Eystein no later th ...

but Haakon's men burned down the monastery and killed Skule. With Skule’s death, the civil war era came to an end.''Håkon Håkonsson 1217-1263'' (University of Oslo)
/ref>

Historical context

Skule's rivalry for kingship was the last phase of the civil wars period of Norwegian history, which lasted from around 1130 to 1240. During that long warring period there were several interlocked conflicts of varying scale and intensity. Norway was accustomed to royal sons fighting each other in order to wrest kingship to himself. The background for these conflicts were the unclear Norwegian succession laws, social conditions and the struggle between

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

and King. There were then two main parties, firstly known by varying names or no names at all, but finally condensed into parties of

Bagler The Bagli Party or Bagler (Old Norse: ''Baglarr'', Norwegian Bokmål: ''Bagler'', Norwegian Nynorsk: ''Baglar'') was a faction or party during the Norwegian Civil Wars. The Bagler faction was made up principally of the Norwegian aristocracy, cler ...

and Birkebeiner.

Sources

The main sources of Sigurd's biography is a poem in '' Hryggjarstykki''. This was incorporated into '' Morkinskinna'' and was used by Snorri Sturlasson when he wrote about Sigurd Slembe in ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

''. Another important source is Orkneyinga saga.

References

Other sources

* Bjørgo, Narve "Skule Bårdsson" in
''Norsk biografisk leksikon''
* Finlay, Alison editor and translator ''Fagrskinna, a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway'' (Brill Academic. 2004) * Hammer, K. V. "Skule Baardssön" in

Bd. 25. Stockholm 1817. pp. 1238–1239. * Gjerset, Knut
History of the Norwegian People
' (The MacMillan Company, Volume I, 1915) * Helle, Knut ''Under kirke og kongemakt, 1130-1350'' (Aschehougs Norges historie, Oslo: 1995) *Holmsen, Andreas ''Norges historie, fra de eldste tider til 1660'' (Oslo: 1961) * Røsoch, Henry ''Trondheim's History'' (Trondheim: F. Bruns Bokhandel. 1939) * Øverland, O. A.; Bull, Edvard "Skule Baardssøn" in
''Salmonsens konversationsleksikon''
Bd. 21. Kopenhagen 1926. S. 680. {{DEFAULTSORT:Skule Bardsson 1180s births 1240 deaths Norwegian civil wars Norwegian dukes Norwegian earls Burials at Nidaros Cathedral Pretenders to the Norwegian throne Assassinated nobility House of Gille 13th-century Norwegian nobility