Christina Sverresdatter (Norwegian: ''Kristin Sverresdatter''; died 1213) was a medieval Norwegian

princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

and titular queen consort, spouse of co-regent

Philip Simonsson Philip Simonsson (Old Norse: ''Filippus Símonsson'') (ca. 1185-1217) was a Norwegian aristocrat and from 1207 to 1217 was the Bagler party pretender to the throne of Norway during the civil war era in Norway. Background Philip was the son of Simon ...

, the Bagler party pretender to the throne of Norway.

Biography

Christina was the daughter of King

Sverre Sigurdsson Sverre Sigurdsson ( non, Sverrir Sigurðarson) (c. 1145/1151 – 9 March 1202) was the king of Norway from 1184 to 1202. Many consider him one of the most important rulers in Norwegian history. He assumed power as the leader of the rebel party ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and his

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

queen consort,

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 ...

. Her father died in 1202 and her mother returned to Sweden, forced to leave Christina behind. In 1209, she married Norwegian aristocrat

. She died in labour giving birth to their first child, a son, who also died soon after. Her marriage was arranged as a part of reconciliation between the

Bagler The Bagli Party or Bagler (Old Norse: ''Baglarr'', Norwegian Bokmål: ''Bagler'', Norwegian Nynorsk: ''Baglar'') was a faction or party during the Norwegian Civil Wars. The Bagler faction was made up principally of the Norwegian aristocracy, clerg ...

and

Birkebeiner The Birkebein Party or Birkebeinar (; no, Birkebeinarane (nynorsk) or (bokmål)) was the name for a rebellious party in Norway, formed in 1174 around the pretender to the Norwegian throne, Eystein Meyla. The name has its origins in propagand ...

factions during the period of the

Civil war era in Norway The civil war era in Norway ( no, borgerkrigstida or ''borgerkrigstiden'') began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in history of Norway, Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders War of succession, waged wars to clai ...

. In 1208, with no side looking able to achieve victory, Bishop

Nikolas Arnesson Nicholas Arnesson (old Norse language, Old Norse: ''Nikolás Árnason'') (ca. 1150 – 7 November 1225) was a Norwegian bishop and nobleman during the Civil war era in Norway, Norwegian civil war era. He was a leader in the opposition against King S ...

together with other bishops of the Church, brokered a peace deal between the Baglers and the Birkebeiners. At the settlement of

Kvitsøy Kvitsøy is an island municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. At only , it is the smallest municipality in Norway by area and one of the smallest by population. Kvitsøy is located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative cen ...

, the Birkebeiner candidate for king,

Inge II of Norway Inge II (Norwegian: ''Inge Bårdsson'', Old Norse: ''Ingi Bárðarson''; 1185 – 23 April 1217) was King of Norway from 1204 to 1217. His reign was within the later stages of the period known in Norwegian history as the age of civil wars. Inge w ...

, recognized Philip's rule over the eastern third of the country in return for Philip giving up any claim to the title of king and recognizing King Inge as his overlord. To seal the agreement, Philip was to marry King Sverre's daughter, Christina. Thea Sofie Loch Naes portrayed a heavily fictionalized Christina (named Kristin) in the 2016 film

The Last King ''The Last King'' ( no, Birkebeinerne) is a 2016 Norwegian historical drama, directed by Nils Gaup. The story, inspired by true events, centers on the efforts of the Birkebeiner loyalists to protect the infant, Haakon Haakonsson, the heir to t ...

Historic context

In Norwegian civil war era it was usual that several royal sons fought against each other over power in Norway. The civil war period of Norwegian history lasted from 1130 to 1240. During this period there were several interlocked conflicts of varying scale and intensity. The background for these conflicts were the unclear Norwegian succession laws, social conditions and the struggle between Church and King. There were then two main parties, firstly known by varying names or no names at all, but finally condensed into parties of Bagler and Birkebeiner. The rallying point regularly was a royal son, who was set up as the head figure of the party in question, to oppose the rule of king from the contesting party.

Olympic Mascot

Håkon and Kristin Haakon, also spelled Håkon (in Norway), Hakon (in Denmark), Håkan (in Sweden),Oxford Dictionary of First Names Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges - 2006 "Håkon Norwegian: from the Old Norse personal name Hákon or Háukon, from hā ' ...

are the mascots of the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

. Håkon is named after

Haakon IV of Norway Haakon IV Haakonsson ( – 16 December 1263; Old Norse: ''Hákon Hákonarson'' ; Norwegian: ''Håkon Håkonsson''), sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his namesake son, was King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 y ...

and Kristin after Christina of Norway.Les mascottes des Jeux Olympiques d’hiver d’Innsbruck 1976 à Sotchi 2014
Olympic.org

References

1190s births 1213 deaths Deaths in childbirth Norwegian princesses Year of birth unknown House of Sverre Fairhair dynasty Norwegian royal consorts 12th-century Norwegian women 13th-century Norwegian women 12th-century Norwegian people 13th-century Norwegian people Daughters of kings {{Europe-royal-stub