Margrete Eriksdotter

Margrete Eriksdotter (* around 1155, † 1209 in Oslo ) was the Norwegian queen as the wife of the Norwegian king Sverre Sigurdsson.

Her parents were the Swedish King Erik the Saint and his wife Kristina Björnsdotter. In 1185 she married King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway.

In his struggle for the Norwegian crown after 1177, the support of the Swedish King Knut Eriksson was very important. Margrete is rarely mentioned in Swedish sources, in detail only in her support for Nikolas Arnasons in his application for the office of Bishop of Stavanger, which King Sverre refused. Nikolas became bishop of Oslo a year later. The area around Sverre distrusted her because of their connections to the baglers . Because as bishop Nikolas was the leader of the baglers and second cousin of Margrete. Both had the Swedish King Inge I as their great-grandfather.

After Sverre's death there was an open rift between the birch legs and the queen widow. So she wanted to return to Sweden with her daughter Kristin. But the chief Peter Støype kidnapped Kristin during her stay in Oslo and handed her over to her stepbrother Håkon Sverresson , who had now become King of Norway. The Bagler saga embellishes this kidnapping and the mother's curse in detail. In the longer version of the saga, Margrete is portrayed in the darkest colors as a thoroughly evil woman.

In 1203 she returned to Norway with her niece Kristin Nikolasdatter at the invitation of King Håkon, but remained irreconcilable despite his efforts at reconciliation. How far in the saga the narrative pattern of the struggle “good versus evil” superimposed reality can hardly be determined. The niece married Håkon Galen the following year . When King Håkon died the following year, she was suspected of poisoning. She had to cleanse herself of this suspicion by means of the iron test , although this has been carried out by Pope Alexander III since 1169 . had been banned for Norway. The iron test failed. With the help of Håkon Galen, she was able to escape to Sweden via Sogn and Valdres . Her daughter Kristin had to leave her behind.

In 1209 Kristin married the Bagler King Philipp Simonsson in Oslo . Margrete came to Oslo and attended the wedding. Shortly afterwards she fell ill and died. On the occasion of her death it turned out that she had had a great fortune in Värmland and Västergötland. So Philip immediately moved east and secured the inheritance for his wife.

Erik Segersäll's gender

Ring around 936                         Erik Emund     Emund Eriksson                         Olof (co-regent) † around 980 Erik Segersäll     Olof Skötkonung                             An and Jakob Emund gamle                             Anund unknown daughter   Stenkil                                                               Neck Erik? Inge d. Older                                                                                                         Filipp Inge the younger   Ulvhild Håkonsdatter Ragnvald Niels   Margarethe Fredkulla Kristina Katarina   Björn Járnsiða                                                                                             Henrik Skadelår   Ingrid Ragnvaldsdatter Magnus Nilsson   Rikissa of Poland   Sverker I. d. Older Kristina   Erik d. Saints                           Nikolas Arnason Knut V. Sverre   Margrete Eriksdotter

After Lars O. Lagerqvist: Sveriges Regenter. Från forntid till nutid . Stockholm 1996 p. 39.
Not all marriages and descendants are entered, only the most important ones.
Fat = kings

Individual evidence

1. ^ Regesta Norvegica Vol. 1 No. 195.
2. ↑ She was the daughter of Margarete's sister Katarina Eriksdotter.
3. ↑ Regesta Norvegica Vol. 1 No. 304 and 306.
4. ↑ Imsen p. 21.
5. ^ Regesta Norvegica vol. 1 no. 129.
6. ↑ The year of death 1209 is recorded in several Icelandic annals.
7. ↑ Erik Segersäll was King of Svear in the 10th century and at times also King of Denmark.
8. ↑ King of Sweden. * 1000; † 1050.
9. ↑ Emund the old was an illegitimate son of Olof Skötkonung. King from 1050 to 1060.
10. ↑ * at 1028; † 1066; King from 1060.
11. ↑ Halsten is only mentioned by Adam of Bremen as the brief king of Sweden for the year 1066.
12. ↑ Filipp was King of Sweden from 1110 to 1118.
13. ↑ Ulvhild was married three times to: 1. King Inge d. Younger, 2nd King Niels v. Denmark, 3rd King Sverker the Elder Older.
14. ↑ The identification of Ragnvald with Ragnvald knaphövde did not gain acceptance. Lars O. Lagerqvist: Sveriges Regenter. Från forntid till nutid . Stockholm 1997. p. 49.
15. ↑ Niels was King of Denmark from 1104–1134.
16. ↑ From 1101-1103 she was Queen of Norway and from 1105 Queen of Denmark.
17. ↑ 1125 King of Sweden.
18. ↑ In the meantime she was married to the Russian prince Volodar of Minsk. Lars O. Lagerqvist: Sveriges Regenter. Från forntid till nutid . Stockholm 1997. p. 52.
19. ↑ From 1147 he was King of Denmark.

literature

• Narve Bjørgo: "Margrete Eriksdotter" in: Norsk biografisk leksikon
• Steinar Imsen: Våre Dronninger from Ragnhild Eriksdatter to Sonja . Oslo 1991. ISBN 82-09-106783 .