Nicholas Arnesson
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Nicholas Arnesson (
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
: ''Nikolás Árnason'') (ca. 1150 – 7 November 1225) was a Norwegian
bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
and nobleman during the Norwegian civil war era. He was a leader in the opposition against King
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 ...
and founder of the
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, cle ...
party. He is a chief antagonist in ''
Sverris saga ''Sverris saga'' is one of the Kings' sagas. Its subject is King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway (r. 1177–1202) and it is the main source for this period of Norwegian history. As the foreword tells us, the saga in its final form consists of mo ...
''. and also appeared in ''
The Pretenders The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...
'', an historic drama written by
Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...
in 1863.


Background

Nicholas was the son of
Ingrid Ragnvaldsdotter Ingrid Ragnvaldsdotter (Old Norse: ''Ingiríðr Rögnvaldsdóttir'') (1100/1110 – after 1161 AD) was born a member of the Swedish royal family, became a member of Danish royalty by marriage and later was Queen consort of Norway as the spouse o ...
, the dowager queen of Norway and her fourth husband Arne Ivarsson of
Stårheim Stårheim (or ''Torvika'') is a village in the municipality of Stad in Vestland county, Norway. Stårheim is located in the central part of Stad Municipality on the north shore of the Nordfjorden, about west of the municipal center of Nordfjor ...
(''Árni Ívarsson''). Nicholas was a half-brother of King
Inge I of Norway Inge Haraldsson (; 1135 – 3 February 1161) was king of Norway (being Inge I) from 1136 to 1161. Inge’s reign fell within the start of the period known in Norwegian history as the civil war era, and he was never the sole ruler of the country. ...
. Nicholas supported King
Magnus V of Norway 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 civil war against King Sverre. He fought on Magnus' side in the Battle of Ilevollene in 1180, just outside
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 ...
, and appeared the following year as his spokesman in negotiations with King Sverre. The conflict ended with Magnus' death in 1184 and Sverre as sole king of Norway.


Career

Nicholas was elected
Bishop of Oslo The Diocese of Oslo is the Church of Norway's bishopric for the municipalities of Oslo, Asker and Bærum. It is one of Norway's five traditional bishoprics and was founded around the year 1070. History Oslo was established as a diocese in 1068. ...
, according to the saga because King Sverre was convinced by Queen Margaret, who was Nicholas' second cousin. Nicholas was Bishop of Oslo for 35 years, from 1190 until his death in 1225. According to ''Sverris saga'' he was first made Bishop of Stavanger and then transferred to Oslo, but this is not supported by contemporary documents and is probably an attempt to discredit Nicholas. At this time relations between church and king were becoming increasingly bad with the archbishop forced into exile. King Sverre accused Nicholas of treason and threatened severe punishment. Nicholas submitted and on 29 June 1194, together with the other bishops, he crowned Sverre as King of Norway. Later an uprising by former supporter of King Magnus ended in failure. Sverre charged Nicholas with treason, claiming he had been implicated. Nicholas was banned and joined the exiled archbishop Erik Ivarsson (''Eirik Ivarsson''), Bishop of Stavanger in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. Erik had fled to the cathedral city of
Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and
) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...
in
Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...
, where the Danish archbishop had his seat. During 1196, Nicholas was one of the leaders of the
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, cle ...
party together with the nobleman Reidar the Messenger from
Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the Göta canal *IF Viken, ...
and Sigurd Jarlsson, a bastard son of
Erling Skakke Erling Ormsson (1115 – 18 June 1179), known as Erling Skakke, was a Norwegian Jarl during the 12th century. He was the father of Magnus Erlingsson, who reigned as King of Norway from 1161 to 1184. Biography Erling Ormsson was born at Etne in ...
. Archbishop Erik Ivarsson also gave his support. The Bagler chose
Inge Magnusson Inge Magnusson or Inge Baglar-king was from 1196 to 1202 the Bagler candidate for pretender to the Norwegian throne during the Civil war era in Norway. In 1197, a serious challenge to the reign of King Sverre of Norway arose. Several prominent op ...
, who was claimed to be the illegitimate son of King Magnus V, as their candidate for king. The Baglers established themselves in the Viken area, which was both Nicholas' bishopric and King Magnus' old power base. On 18 June 1199 the two fleets met at the naval
Battle of Strindafjord A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
. Here Sverre won a crushing victory and the surviving Baglers fled. Although they were at times driven out, Viken remained loyal to the Bagler cause to the end of the civil war. After the defeat of the Bagler in the Battle of Strindafjord, Nicholas had to flee to Denmark and seems to have stayed there until Sverre's death and reconciliation between parties 1202.''Nikolas Arnesson'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref>


Historic context

From 1130 until 1240, there were several interlocked civil wars of varying scale and intensity. The background for these conflicts were the unclear Norwegian succession laws, social conditions and the struggle between Church and King. The goal of the warring parties was always to put their candidate on the throne. The rallying point regularly was a royal son, who was set up as the head figure of the party in question, to oppose the rule of king from the contesting party.


References


Other sources

* Krag, Claus ''Norges største middelalderkonge'' (Aschehoug. Oslo: 2005) * Holmsen, Andreas ''Norges historie. Fra de eldste tider til 1660'' (Universitetsforlaget, Oslo: 1939) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas Arnesson Civil wars in Norway 1150s births 1225 deaths