Bård Guttormsson ( – 3 April 1194) was a Norwegian

Birkebeiner The Birkebein Party or Birkebeinar (; (nynorsk) or (bokmål)) was the name for a rebellious party in Norway, formed in 1174 around the pretender to the Norwegian throne, Eystein Meyla. The name has its origins in propaganda from the establ ...

and a lieutenant of

Sverre of Norway Sverre Sigurdsson () (c. 1145/1151 – 9 March 1202) was the king of Norway from 1184 to 1202. Many consider him one of the most important rulers in Norwegian history. He assumed power as the leader of the rebel party known as the Birkebeiner i ...

. Patrilineally, he was also a member of the

House of Godwin The House of Godwin (Old English: ''Godƿine'') was the house consisting of the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon family who were one of the leading noble families in England during the last fifty years before the Norman conquest of England, Norman Con ...

. In the ''

Bagler sagas The Bagler Sagas (Old Norse ''Böglunga sögur'') are kings' sagas relating to events which occurred between 1202–17 and are a primary source of Norwegian history during this period. There are two versions, one shorter and one longer, which are i ...

'', Bård is described as very rich, witty, and quiet-natured. Bård was among the third generation of a wealthy family lieutenants based near

Rein Church Rein Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Indre Fosen Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Reinsgrenda, which is situated just south of the village of Årnset. It is one of the churches for ...

near Rissa, whose family had historically supported the kings of the

House of Gille Gille dynasty was a royal house which ruled the Kingdom of Norway during the 12th century. It is very unlikely that the rulers ever referred to the Gille dynasty which is a term coined by modern historians. The term "Gille" is probably derived fr ...

such as

Sigurd II Sigurd Haraldsson (; 1133 – 10 June 1155), or Sigurd II, also called Sigurd Munn, was king of Norway from 1136 to 1155. He was son of Harald IV Gille, king of Norway and his mistress Thora Guttormsdotter (). He served as co-ruler with his ha ...

and Haakon Herdebrei.

Background

As a lieutenant, Bård participated in a great battle between kings Sverre and

Magnus V Magnus Erlingsson (, 1156 – 15 June 1184), also known as Magnus V, was a king of Norway during the civil war era in Norway. He helped to establish primogeniture in royal succession in Norway. King Magnus was killed in the Battle of Fimreite in ...

in the Battle of

Nordnes Nordnes is a peninsula and neighbourhood in the city centre of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The ...

on 31 May 1181. ''Sverre's saga'' depicts Bård as having been slow, not very aggressive, and quick to flee. As a result of this, Bård was mocked by his own brothers-in-arms and was refused a horse on the ride to

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 ...

. By the spring of 1183, he and Ivar Silke led an expedition to northern Norway against the viking Erling Vidkunnsson in Bjarkøy. By 1184, he was also part of a punitive expedition that burned down Lusakaupang in

Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway (''Vestlandet''). It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...

. It is possible that he participated in the decisive battle between Magnus and Sverre at

Fimreite Fimreite is a small village in the municipality of Sogndal in Vestland county, Norway. The village sits on the south side of the mouth of the Sogndalsfjorden, where it empties into the main Sognefjorden. It is located near the end of a penin ...

in June 1184. However, the last time Bård is mentioned in military context is in the

Battle of Florvåg The Battle of Florvåg () was a naval battle that was fought on 3 April 1194 between King Sverre of Norway, Sverre Sigurdsson, leader of the Birkebeiner party, and Sigurd Magnusson, the Eyjarskeggjar party pretender. Although there had been previou ...

in the spring of 1194. Here, he was badly wounded and died shortly afterwards in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Marriages and family

Bård married three times: # Ulvhild Pålsdatter # Cecilia Sigurdsdotter (1155–1186), the illegitimate daughter of

# Ragnfrid Erlingsdatter Following Ulvhild's death, Bård was left a widower. Being one of the most prominent men within Norway at the time, it was thus imperative for Sverre to gain his support during the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Around 1184, therefore, following the victory over

Magnus Erlingsson Magnus Erlingsson (, 1156 – 15 June 1184), also known as Magnus V, was a king of Norway during the civil war era in Norway. He helped to establish primogeniture in royal succession in Norway. King Magnus was killed in the Battle of Fimreite i ...

, Sverre intended to marry Sigurd II's daughter

Cecilia Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. History The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for g ...

to Bård, even though Cecilia was already married to

Folkvid the Lawspeaker Folkvid was the lawspeaker of Värmland during the second half of the 12th century. He was the father of Håkon Galen, an earl whose son Knut Håkonsson was a claimant for the Norwegian throne. Folkvid is only known from the '' Bagler sagas'', ...

who was still alive at the time. The proposed marriage between Cecilia and Bård was thus protested by Archbishop Øystein, who himself had applied a law revoking the previous right to divorce. However, the marriage was ultimately still able to go ahead once Cecilia testified she had been married to Folkvid against her will, as a prerequisite to a legal marriage was that both parties had married according to their own will. With Cecilia, he had a son,

Inge Inge is a given name in various Germanic language, Germanic language-speaking cultures. In Swedish and Norwegian, it is mostly used as a masculine, but less often also as a feminine name, sometimes as a short form of Ingeborg, while in Danish, Est ...

, who was later crowned

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty king ...

during the civil war era. Bård had another son with Ragnfrid:

Skule Bårdsson Skule Bårdsson or Duke Skule (; ) (–24 May 1240) was a Norwegian nobleman and claimant to the royal throne against his son-in-law, King Haakon Haakonsson. Henrik Ibsen's play '' Kongs-Emnerne'' (1863) is about the dispute between Duke Skule an ...

, a duke and a rival of King

Haakon IV Haakon IV Haakonsson ( – 16 December 1263; ; ), sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his namesake son, was King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 years, longer than any Norwegian king since Harald Fairhair. Haako ...

. Skule's daughter

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

later married Haakon, becoming the queen of Norway.

, (Håkons, Guttorms og Inges saga, chapter 11) Despite the approval of Bård's marriage to Cecilia, there were still claims that their marriage was invalid and that Inge was technically illegitimate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guttormsson, Bård 1150s births 1194 deaths 12th-century Norwegian nobility