Håkon IV. (Norway)

Coat of arms of Håkon IV.

Håkon IV. Håkonsson (* 1204 in Folkenborg, today Eidsberg ( Østfold ); † December 16, 1263 on the Orkney ) was regarded as the son of King Håkon Sverresson and his concubine Inga von Varteig († 1234) and was king from 1217 to 1263 from Norway . He was the last king of the civil war between Birkebeinern and Baglers . He is also called Håkon the old ( Norwegian Håkon Gamle ) to differentiate himself from his son Håkon Håkonsson unge (the young).

origin

In the autumn of 1203, Håkon Sverresson had Inga von Varteig from an old and respected Østland family with him in Borg. The following year, Håkon was probably born in Østland. At that time, King Håkon Sverresson died .

The rescue by the Birkebeiner

Prince Håkon's rescue by skiing Birkebeiner

Since the baglers apparently immediately tried to kill him, the saga reports that the Birkebeiners brought him to King Inge II. Bårdsson immediately . After a break in Lillehammer (first mention of Lillehammer) at Christmas, the two best skiers Torstein Skjevla and Skjervald Skrukka did not take the normal route through Gudbrandsdalen , because of the baglers to be expected everywhere , but over the mountains to Østerdalen , and this in frost, blowing snow and very bad weather. In memory of this special act, there are still the national races Birkebeinerløypet (long distance run approx. 20 km), Birkebeinerrennet (long distance cross-country skiing, approx. 50 km) and Birkebeinerrittet (long distance cross-country cycling race approx. 90 km). From 1206 he was raised by the king's Birkebeiner followers. He attended a spiritual school and knew Latin so he had Latin books read to him on his deathbed.

The succession to the throne after Inge II.

When King Inge II died in April 1217, there were three crown pretenders: Inge's illegitimate son Guttorm, King Inge's paternal half-brother Skule Bårdsson and Håkon Håkonsson. Archbishop Guttorm , the Cross Brothers in Nidaros and the military wanted Skule as king. The Birkebeiner farmers wanted Håkon. As a son Inges, Guttorm had his own claims. When King Inge died, the archbishop was on a visitation trip to Hålogaland. That took the Birkebeiner, brought the 13-year Håkon from the cathedral school, shouting against the resistance of the Cross brothers the Øyrathing together where they could enforce the homage Håkons king, although Skule logged doubt about the paternal lineage Håkons and the Cross brothers of the iron sample of Mother Inga contradicted this in the Archbishop's absence and refused to put up the shrine of St. Olav at the homage. Later that summer, another homage was made on the gulathing in Bergen. After the death of King Philip Simonsson , who ruled in Oppland and around the Oslofjord, Håkon was also honored on the Haugathing and Borgarthing, with which the Birkebeiner prevented the Baglers from choosing their own king as Philip's successor.

The saga emphasizes that his choice of king, despite his illegitimate birth, was in accordance with the old right of succession because, in contrast to Guttorm, who derived his ability to be a king through his sister Sverres Cecilia , he was able to establish his ability to be king entirely through the male line. Therefore, his ancestral primacy was undisputed, and the popularity was great. The quick and decisive action of the Birkebeiner also meant that the resistance against him remained small. The Church saw that an overly aggressive advocacy of Skule would create the danger of a new civil war.

Yet the Church did not readily accept succession to the throne in conflict with its principles. Even if after 1217 she no longer opposed Håkon openly, Archbishop Guttorm insisted that an accession to the throne could not be lawfully carried out without the consent of the church. She also demanded a position for Skule that would keep the peace between him and the royal circles. This led to an imperial assembly in Bergen in the summer of 1218. The meeting dealt with the closer examination of his paternal ancestry and thus received a priority over the Thing meetings of the previous year. The mother Inga successfully submitted to the iron test. The assembly confirmed Skule as imperial administrator for the still underage Håkon. For this he received a third of the royal income of the entire empire including the tributary areas in the North Sea.

His rule

The evidence of his paternal descent in 1218 through his mother's iron test strengthened his position decisively and also improved his relationship with the church. In 1219 he came of age at the age of 15, but he followed Skule until autumn 1220. Then he probably took control of two thirds of the empire, but this is not certain until the spring of 1222. In that year he agreed with Archbishop Guttorm a diet in Bergen for 1223. He should determine his royal prerogative over all other crown pretenders. On this occasion the archbishop was the only and first bishop to receive a coinage privilege for Norway. He also confirmed all previously granted rights of the Church and took them under his royal protection. This indicates a greater dependence on the Church at this stage.

Håkon and his son Magnus .

The Diet of Bergen in 1223 had even more participants than that of 1218 and represented all strata and landscapes of the empire. Here Håkon was finally confirmed as king. The archbishop announced this confirmation in a higher function. In addition, the division of the empire between the king and Jarl Skuli was renewed, with Skule still receiving Sunnmøre over its third, which was eastland . Håkon married Skule's daughter Margarete in 1225 . He still had to deal with the Ribbungene. But their leader, Junker Knut, accepted a comparison and in 1227 married another daughter of Skule, Ingrid Skuledatter. In 1227 the civil war ended for a long time until the Skules uprising in 1239. This ended with the death of Skules in 1240. In the meantime Sigurd Eindridesson Tafse had become Archbishop of Nidaros. He tried in vain to obtain further privileges for the church in return for his church coronation. In 1246 Pope Innocent IV sent his Cardinal William of Modena to crown King Håkon. On the advice of the bishops, the cardinal tried to persuade Håkon to repeat the coronation oath of King Magnus Erlingsson . But Håkon flatly refused. The church coronation took place in 1247.

In 1262 the Icelanders had signed a treaty with King Håkon about his royal rule. Hakon thus became the king of Iceland, a free country with certain rights and obligations.

His death

→ Main article : Norwegian-Scottish War (1263-1266)

When the Scots attacked the West Scottish islands in 1262 , after general mobilization he drove with a large fleet from Bergen across the Shetlands to Scotland in August 1263 . The fleet advanced along the west coast to the Firth of Clyde, but after a tied battle at Largs he withdrew to the Orkneys for the winter, fell ill and died on December 16, 1263. In the Peace of Perth , Norway sold in 1266 the West Scottish Isles, but secured possession of Orkney and the Shetland Isles.

children

premarital (from Frille Kanga)

• Sigurd
• Cecilia

marital

• Olav (* 1227)
• Håkon Håkonsson unge (1232–1257)
• Kristin Håkonsdatter (1234–1262)
• Magnus lagabætir (1238–1280)

His performance

Forward-looking was his realization that internal peace essentially depends on good law, and he turned all his attention to this policy area. He began work on a comprehensive revision and unification of the law, which he was unable to finish. He sent young compatriots to the universities of southern Europe (Paris, Bologna) for appropriate thorough training, of which Audun Hugleiksson was to become by far the most important. Norway participated in the legal century and opened up to the new currents of legal philosophy between 1150 and 1250. With it, the legislative competence began to shift from the lagthing to the diet with the king.

filming

The rescue by the Birkebeiner was staged in the Norwegian film The last King - Der Erbe des König .

See also

• Norway in the Christian Middle Ages

literature

• Sturla Þórðarson: Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar . German: Felix Niedner (translator): Sturla Thordsons story of King Hakon Hakonsohn . In: Felix Niedner: Norwegian royal stories . Volume 2: Sverris and Hakons sagas . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1965, pp. 117–376 ( Thule 18).
• Knut Helle: Under kirke og Kongemakt. 1130-1350. Aschehoug, Oslo 1995, ISBN 82-03-23132-2 ( Aschehougs Norges Historie 3).
• Knut Helle: Håkon 4 Håkonsson . In: Norsk biografisk leksikon .
• Nils Petter Thuesen: Norges Historie i årstall. Fra 100,000 for Kr. til i dag. 3rd utv. utg.Orion , Oslo 2004, ISBN 82-458-0713-3 .

Web links

Commons : Håkon IV. (Norway)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

1. ↑ According to the sources, he died on the night of December 15-16. That is why December 15 is also given, e.g. B. at Thuesen p. 75.
2. ^ R. Keyser, CR Unger: Barlaams og Josaphats saga . Christiania 1851, p. XIV fn. 2.
3. ↑ Sigurd Eindridesson Tafse . In: Norsk biografisk leksikon .
4. ↑ The old contract (Gamli Sáttmáli) . ( Wikisource )
5. ↑ Newer research questions the authenticity of the contract.
6. ^ The Last King - The King's Legacy - Film 2016. In: moviepilot.de. Retrieved December 11, 2018 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Inge II.	King of Norway 1217–1263	Magnus VI.