Björn (Swedish King 829)
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Björn (
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
: ''Bjǫrn'') was a
Swedish monarch The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...
or local ruler who ruled over
Birka Birka (''Birca'' in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö, Ekerö, Björkö (lit. "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden, was an important Viking Age trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as many parts of Continent ...
, an important port town, and possibly
Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...
, an important early Swedish political center, around the year 829. His existence is attested by the nearly contemporary account ''
Vita Ansgari The ''Vita Ansgarii'', also known as the ''Vita Anskarii'', is the hagiography of saint Ansgar, written by Rimbert, his successor as archbishop in the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen. The ''Vita'' is an important source not only in detailing Ansgar ...
'', written by the missionary
Rimbert Saint Rimbert (or Rembert) (''c.'' 830 - 11 June 888 in Bremen) was archbishop of Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, Hamburg-Bremen, in the northern part of the East Francia, Kingdom of East Frankia from 865 until his death in 888. He most famously wr ...
, who visited Sweden alongside
Ansgar Ansgar (8 September 801 – 3 February 865), also known as Anskar, Saint Ansgar, Saint Anschar or Oscar, was Archbishopric of Bremen, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in the northern part of the Kingdom of the East Franks. Ansgar became known as the ...
in 852. He is in fact the first Swedish figure referred as king who is known from a reasonably reliable source. Older Swedish historiography often identified the king with the legendary figure
Björn at Haugi Björn at Haugi ("Björn at the Barrow" from the Old Norse word ''haugr'' meaning mound), Björn på Håga, Björn II or Bern was, according to '' Hervarar saga'', a Swedish king and the son of Erik Björnsson, and Björn ruled together in diarc ...
, who was supposedly a Swedish ruler in the generation before the youth of
Harald Finehair Harald Fairhair (; – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from  872 to 930 and was the first King of Norway. Supposedly, two of his sons, Eric Bl ...
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 ...
. This identification is however considered unverifiable, since Björn at Haugi may have actually been a Norwegian local ruler who was later constructed as a Swedish king. Although the genealogy of early Swedish local rulers is not known, Björn is assumed to have belonged to the
House of Munsö The House of Munsö (), also called the House of Björn Ironside (Swedish: ), the House of Uppsala (Swedish: ) or simply the Old dynasty (Swedish: ), is the earliest reliably attested royal dynasty of Sweden, ruling during the Viking Age. None of ...
, which would later produce
Eric the Victorious Eric the Victorious (Old Norse: ''Eiríkr inn sigrsæli'', Modern Swedish: ''Erik Segersäll''; c. 945 – c. 995) was a Swedish monarch as of around 970. Although there were earlier Swedish kings, he is the first Swedish king in a consecutive re ...
, generally considered to be Sweden's first king. The royal names attested in the ninth century, namely, also occur among the kings and princes in the late Viking age, perhaps suggesting a genealogical continuity.


Rimbert's account

Ansgar Ansgar (8 September 801 – 3 February 865), also known as Anskar, Saint Ansgar, Saint Anschar or Oscar, was Archbishopric of Bremen, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in the northern part of the Kingdom of the East Franks. Ansgar became known as the ...
had previously worked in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
with the consent of King
Harald Klak Harald 'Klak' Halfdansson (c. 785 – c. 852) was a king in Jutland (and possibly other parts of Denmark) around 812–814 and again from 819–827."Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard's Histories" (1970), translation by Bernh ...
, a protégé of Emperor
Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...
. In 829, Swedish ambassadors arrived to the court of Louis in
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. Among other matters they told the Emperor that many people in their country wished to embrace the Christian religion, and that their king endorsed the arrival of proper teachers. The Emperor summoned Ansgar and ordered him to go the land of the Swedes and investigate whether people were indeed prepared to accept Christianity. Thus Ansgar tread the journey together with his companion Witbert, sailing with a party of merchants. When about half-way, the ships were attacked by
Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9â ...
and those on board had to save themselves on shore. The missionaries lost the gifts and possessions they had carried, but nevertheless decided to proceed. After traveling a long distance, mostly by foot, they arrived to the port of the kingdom which was called
Birka Birka (''Birca'' in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö, Ekerö, Björkö (lit. "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden, was an important Viking Age trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as many parts of Continent ...
, where they were friendly received by the king, whose name was Björn ("Tandem ad ''portum regni'' ipsorum, qui Byrca dicitur, pervenerunt, ubi benigne a rege, qui Bern vocabatur, suscepti sunt"). Jónsson, Finnur (1890).
Om skjaldepoesien og de ældste skjalde
, in Kock, Axel (Ed.). ''Arkiv för nordisk filologi, sjätte bandet. Ny följd: andra bandet.'' C.W.K. Gleerups förlag, Lund. p. 144.
Some scholars have called Björn "king of Birka", but this has no foundation in Rimbert's writings, as Rimbert merely writes that Ansgar went ashore in Birka, which was in King Björn's kingdom.
/ref> According to the ''Vita'', King Björn discussed the arrival of the missionaries with his men, then announced that they were free to preach. Apart from the numerous Christian prisoners at the place, several people seemed interested in the new faith. To these belonged Hergeir, the chief of the port, who was a prominent adviser to King Björn. After having been baptized, he built a church on his personal land. Ansgar stayed in Sweden for one and a half year and then returned to the Emperor's court in 831. Björn gave him a letter to bring to Louis, "written in the particular way of the Swedes", thus presumably with
runic script Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see '' futhark'' vs '' runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were primarily used to represent a sound value (a ...
. In his stead an auxiliary bishop, Gautbert, was appointed for Sweden. However, his activity was cut short several years later. An anti-Christian riot broke out, not supported by the king. Gautbert's nephew Nithard was killed, and Gautbert and his retainers driven out of the country. It is not explicitly said if Björn was still alive at the time. The account indicates that the Swedish king had limited control over people.


The extent of Björn's kingdom

The ''Vita'' is vague about the geography of Sweden, and there is no way of telling if the power of King Björn extended beyond the
Mälaren Valley The Mälaren Valley (), occasionally referred to as Stockholm-Mälaren Region (''Stockholm-mälarregionen''), is the easternmost part of Svealand, the catchment area of Lake Mälaren and the surrounding municipalities. The term is often used int ...
. When speaking of Ansgar's second visit to the Swedes in about 852, the ''Vita'' states that "almost the entirety of that land consists of islands", suggesting a mainly coastal and insular polity. The ''
Vita Karoli Magni ''Vita Karoli Magni'' (''Life of Charlemagne'') is a biography of Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of the Romans, written by Einhard.Ogg, p. 109 The ''Life of Charlemagne'' is a 33 chapter account starting with th ...
'', written around the time of Ansgar's visit, has a short description of the Baltic region: "There is a bay which stretches from the western ocean in eastern direction, of unknown length but with a breadth that may not exceed 150 kilometers, while it is less at many sites. Many people live around this bay, Danes and Swedes, which we call Norsemen, live both on the northern shore and all the islands in the bay. The southern coast is however inhabited by
Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
,
Aesti The Aesti (also Aestii, Astui or Aests) were an ancient people first described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his treatise ''Germania'' (circa 98 AD). According to Tacitus, the territory of Aesti was located somewhere east of the ''Suiones'' ...
and a number of other people". This account, together with other sources from the 9th century, seems to indicate that the Danes and Swedes were the main Nordic peoples known to the continental authors, and that Björn's sphere of power was not merely local.Gahrn, Lars (1994) "Sveariket och påvebreven om ärkestiftet Hamburg-Bremen." ''Historisk tidskrift'' 114, p. 189-202.


References

9th-century Swedish people 9th-century monarchs in Europe Swedish monarchs