Sigurd Magnusson ( 1180 – 3 April 1194) was a Norwegian nobleman who campaigned 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 ...

during the

Civil war era in Norway The civil war era in Norway (, ''borgarkrigstidi'', ''borgerkrigstida'' or ''borgerkrigstiden'') began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders waged wars to claim the throne. ...

Background

Sigurd Magnusson was the son of King

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 ...

and Gyrid Aslaksdatter. Sigurd Magnusson was the only publicly acknowledged son of King Magnus. Several years of warfare with Sverre Sigurdsson had ended with the defeat and death of King Magnus in the Battle of Fimreite (''Slaget ved Fimreite'') in 1184. In the aftermath, groups made up principally of the Norwegian aristocracy, clergy and merchants were formed to depose King Sverre. The young Sigurd was proclaimed to be King of Norway in 1193 at the

Haugating Haugating was a Thing in medieval Norway. Haugating served as an assembly for the regions around Vestfold and the area west of Oslofjord. It was located at Tønsberg in Vestfold, Norway. Background Although it was not as recognized nationall ...

near

Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...

. As the son of Magnus Erlingsson, Sigurd was the nominal king supported by the so-called Isle Beards ('' Eyjarskeggjar'') from Shetland and Orkney. The real leader was Hallkjell Jonsson, who had been a son-in-law of Erling Skakke as well as the brother-in-law of King Magnus. With

Harald Maddadsson Harald Maddadsson (Old Norse: ''Haraldr Maddaðarson'', Gaelic: ''Aralt mac Mataid'') (c. 1134 – 1206) was Earl of Orkney and Mormaer of Caithness from 1139 until 1206. He was the son of Matad, Mormaer of Atholl, and Margaret, daughter ...

Earl of Orkney Earl of Orkney, historically Jarl of Orkney, is a title of nobility encompassing the archipelagoes of Orkney and Shetland, which comprise the Northern Isles of Scotland. Originally Scandinavian Scotland, founded by Norse invaders, the status ...

and Mormaer of Caithness, Hallkjell gathered most of his men on

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

and

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

. After establishing themselves in Viken, the Eyjarskeggjar sailed on to Bergen. Although they occupied the city itself and the surrounding regions, a force of

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 ...

s held on in the fortress of Sverresborg.

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, King Sverre sailed south to confront the Eyjarskeggjar. The two fleets met at Florvåg on Askøy, an island just north of

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 ...

. King Sverre and his force confronted Sigurd Magnusson and the Eyjarskeggjars. King Sverre came to Gravdal with a vast fleet, which rowed over to Florvågøya. On the morning of

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

, 3 April 1194 the battle took place. Here the battle experience of the Birkebeiner veterans proved to be decisive. Hallkjell Jonsson fell with most of his men, including Sigurd Magnusson. King Sverre won, but around 2,500 soldiers were killed in the bloody battle. Sigurd Magnusson's corpse was shown in Bergen, in order to demonstrate King Sverre's power and also to prevent any impostors claiming to be the young prince. His body was buried in ''Mariakyrkjegarden'', the churchyard of the St Mary's Church in

Historic context

The civil wars period of Norwegian history lasted from 1130 to 1240. During this period there were several interlocked conflicts of varying scale and intensity. The background for these conflicts was the unclear Norwegian succession laws, social conditions and the struggle between Church 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, cle ...

and

. 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 the king from the contesting party.

Sources

The most important historical source on the life of Sigurd Magnusson is contained in the ''

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 ...

''. This saga is likely biased, since the foreword states that part was written under King Sverre's direct sponsorship. ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

'', written ca. 1230 by the poet and historian

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

, contains background information.

References

Other sources

* McDonald, R. Andrew ''The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland's Western Seaboard, c. 1100–c. 1336'' (Tuckwell, West Linton, 1997) *Lidén, Hans-Emil ''Mariakirken i Bergen'' (Bergen: Mangschou. 2000) {{DEFAULTSORT:Magnusson, Sigurd 1180s births 1194 deaths Civil wars in Norway Pretenders to the Norwegian throne People associated with Shetland People associated with Orkney Norwegian military personnel killed in the Norwegian civil wars House of Hardrada Sons of kings