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 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 ...

'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. 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 legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and ...

. In order to facilitate a compromise between these two rivals, Skule's elder daughter Margaret Skulesdatter 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 Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

(''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 located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

at the traditional Thing (''Øyrating'') in Trøndelag during 1239. Skule also tried, unsuccessfully, to win his other son-in-law, jarl Knut Haakonsson, 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 ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. 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 in Nidaros 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)
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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 win sole kingship. The background for these conflicts were 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 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''. 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 Civil wars in Norway Norwegian dukes Norwegian earls Burials at Nidaros Cathedral Pretenders to the Norwegian throne Assassinated nobility House of Gille 13th-century Norwegian nobility