Harald IV (Norway)

Harald Gilles iron sample

Harald Gille (* around 1103 ; † December 14, 1136 ) was king in Norway from 1130 to 1136. He was from Ireland and claimed to be the son of Magnus Berrføt and an Irish mistress. He married the Swedish king's daughter Ingrid Ragnvaldsdatter . With him was also Magnus the Blind King, who King Sigurd Josalfari had actually installed as the only king over Norway.

His family

He was married to Ingrid Ragnvaldsdatter , granddaughter of the Swedish King Inge Stenkilsson and had their son Inge Krogrygg with her . With his concubine Tora Gudmundsdatter he had the son Sigurd Munn and with other, unknown concubines, the sons Øystein and Magnus. He also had the daughters Margrete, Brigitta and Kristina. Margrete married the local Jón Hallkjellsson in Iceland, so that King Harald appears in almost all Icelandic genealogies in this way.

Harald Gille and Magnus the Blind

The cause of the civil war was King Sigurd's efforts to abolish polygamy and to ensure that there was always only one king in Norway. So Sigurd accepted his new brother Harald after passing the iron test (Harald let himself be escorted barefoot by two bishops over seven (or nine) glowing plowshares, and after three days he showed his feet healthy and undamaged) only on the condition that he did not move the royal power took hold as long as he and Magnus lived. But the people did not accept this new rule of succession. Due to his sociable nature, Harald had many supporters among the people and among the royal feudal people. This was also due to his greater generosity, which the recipients of gifts obliged him to do. On the other hand, Magnus was extremely unpopular even during Sigurd's lifetime and was considered stingy and haughty. This dissatisfaction had led the feudal man Hallkjell Huk Harald, who actually was nicknamed Gilla Christ , the Irish expression for "servant of Christ", brought from Ireland.

His struggle for power

In 1130, Harald was paid homage to a thing in Tønsberg at the same time that his nephew Magnus was being paid homage in Oslo . Magnus could not prevent this due to the balance of power and accepted Harald as co-king. Both were honored as kings on the Øyrathing. In the winter camp in Trondheim in 1133/1134 there was a dispute between the two kings, and Magnus decided to drive Harald out of the empire. Both rallied armed forces and armied in the feudal territories of the other king. In 1134 there was the first civil war battle in the Bohuslän area . Magnus's force was larger, and he was victorious. Harald fled to Denmark to the local King Erik Emune . He, too, was involved in a dispute for the throne in that he had just conquered the royal throne from his uncle Nils Svendsson . Because Nils had tried with the support of King Magnus in Norway to get rid of Erik Emune, a typical alliance situation at that time. The followers of Nils were still active. So Harald received support to go back to Norway, where he attacked and defeated Magnus in Bergen in 1135 with superior strength. This was mutilated and taken to the Munkeliv monastery in Munkholmen near Trondheim.

His death

In 1136 there was a new candidate for the king, Sigurd Slembe , who claimed to be one of Magnus Berføtt's sons with a lover. He attacked Harald Gille in Bergen on December 14, 1136 and killed him in the bed of one of his lovers.

literature

• Halvard Bjørvik: Folketap og sammenbrudd 1350–1520 . In: Aschehougs Norges historie Vol. 3 Oslo 1996.
• Nils Petter Thuesen: Norges historie i årstall Oslo 2004.

predecessor	Office	successor
Sigurd Jorsalfari	King of Norway 1130–1136	Sigurd Munn Inge Krogrygg