Bård Guttormsson ( – 3 April 1194) was a Norwegian Birkebeiner and a lieutenant of Sverre of Norway. Patrilineally, he was also a member of the House of Godwin. In the ''

Bagler sagas The Bagler Sagas (Old Norse ''Böglunga sögur'') are kings' sagas relating to events which occurred between 1202–17 and are a primary source of Norwegian history during this period. There are two versions, one shorter and one longer, which are i ...

'', Bård is described as very rich, witty, and quiet-natured. Bård was among the third generation of a wealthy family lieutenants based in Rein on Rissa, whose family had historically supported the kings of the House of Gille such as

Sigurd II Sigurd Haraldsson (Old Norse: ''Sigurðr Haraldsson''; 1133 – 10 June 1155), also called Sigurd Munn, was king of Norway (being Sigurd II) from 1136 to 1155. He was son of Harald Gille, king of Norway and his mistress Thora Guttormsdotter (''Þ ...

and Haakon Herdebrei.

Background

As a lieutenant, Bård participated in a great battle between kings Sverre and

Magnus V Magnus Erlingsson ( non, Magnús Erlingsson, 1156 – 15 June 1184) was a king of Norway (being Magnus V) during the civil war era in Norway. He was the first known Scandinavian monarch to be crowned in Scandinavia. He helped to establish primoge ...

in the Battle of Nordnes on 31 May 1181. ''Sverre's saga'' depicts Bård as having been slow, not very aggressive, and quick to flee. As a result of this, Bård was mocked by his own brothers-in-arms and was refused a horse on the ride to

Nidaros Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss () was the medieval name of Trondheim when it was the capital of Norway's first Christian kings. It was named for its position at the mouth (Old Norse: ''óss'') of the River Nid (the present-day Nidelva). Althou ...

. By the spring of 1183, he and Ivar Silke led an expedition to northern Norway against the viking Erling Vidkunnsson in

Bjarkøy Bjarkøy is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until it was merged with Harstad Municipality on 1 January 2013. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Nergården on the i ...

. By 1184, he was also part of a punitive expedition that burned down Lusakaupang in

Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway ''(Vestlandet)''. It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...

. It is possible that he participated in the decisive battle between Magnus and Sverre at Fimreite in June 1184. However, the last time Bård is mentioned in military context is in the

Battle of Florvåg The Battle of Florvåg ( no, Slaget ved Florvåg) was a naval battle that was fought on 3 April 1194 between King Sverre Sigurdsson, leader of the Birkebeiner party, and Sigurd Magnusson, the Eyjarskeggjar party pretender. Although there had been ...

in the spring of 1194. Here, he was badly wounded and died shortly afterwards in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Marriages and family

Bård married three times: # Ulvhild Pålsdatter # Cecilia Sigurdsdotter (1155–1186), the illegitimate daughter of

# Ragnfrid Erlingsdatter Following Ulvhild's death, Bård was left a widower. Being one of the most prominent men within Norway at the time, it was thus imperative for Sverre to gain his support during the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Around 1184, therefore, following the victory over Magnus Erlingsson, Sverre intended to marry Sigurd II's daughter Cecilia to Bård, even though Cecilia was already married to

Folkvid the Lawspeaker Folkvid was the lawspeaker of Värmland during the second half of the 12th century. He was the father of Håkon Galen, an earl whose son Knut Håkonsson was a claimant for the Norwegian throne. Folkvid is only known from the '' Bagler sagas'', w ...

who was still alive at the time. The proposed marriage between Cecilia and Bård was thus protested by Archbishop Øystein, who himself had applied a law revoking the previous right to divorce. However, the marriage was ultimately still able to go ahead once Cecilia testified she had been married to Folkvid against her will, as a prerequisite to a legal marriage was that both parties had married according to their own will. With Cecilia, he had a son, Inge, who was later crowned

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingdoms ...

during the civil war era. Bård had another son with Ragnfrid: Skule Bårdsson, a duke and a rival of King Haakon IV. Skule's daughter

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

later married Haakon, becoming the queen of Norway.

, (Håkons, Guttorms og Inges saga, chapter 11) Despite the approval of Bård's marriage to Cecilia, there were still claims that their marriage was invalid and that Inge was technically illegitimate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guttormsson, Bård 1150 births 1194 deaths Norwegian civil wars 12th-century Norwegian nobility