The Battle of Holmengrå ( Norwegian: ''Slaget ved Holmengrå'') was a naval battle fought on 12 November 1139 near the island Holmengrå south of

Hvaler Hvaler is a municipality that is a group of islands in the southern part of Viken County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skjærhalden, on the island of Kirkeøy. The only police station in the municip ...

, between the forces of the child kings Sigurd Haraldsson and Inge Haraldsson on the one side, and on the other side the pretender Sigurd Slembe and his ally King Magnus the Blind (by Sigurd's claim his nephew). Inge and Sigurd Haraldsson were sons of the previous king Harald Gille, who had been killed by Sigurd Slembe in 1136. The sons of Harald Gille emerged victorious from the battle. Magnus the Blind was killed in action, while Sigurd Slembe was betrayed, captured, and later tortured and executed.

Background

After Sigurd Slembe reportedly was told by his mother that he was a son of King Magnus Barefoot, he travelled to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

where he gained military experience, and went on a pilgrimage to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

. Sigurd returned to Norway in 1136 and arranged a meeting with King Harald Gille, requesting to be recognised as his brother (Harald had also claimed to be a son of Magnus Barefoot), but instead found himself accused of a murder in

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

and outlawed by Harald. Sigurd managed to escape, and after some time in hiding, he and some supporters assassinated Harald in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...

. While Sigurd took responsibility for the murder, the people responded that they did not want a man who murdered his brother for a king, or alternatively, if he was not Harald's brother, that he had no right to the throne. After Harald's death, his queen

Ingrid Ragnvaldsdotter Ingrid Ragnvaldsdotter ( Old Norse: ''Ingiríðr Rögnvaldsdóttir'') (1100/1110 – after 1161 AD) was born a member of the Swedish royal family, became a member of Danish royalty by marriage and later was Queen consort of Norway as the spouse of ...

and the chieftains quickly arranged to have Harald's sons, still children, proclaimed as kings. Sigurd Haraldsson was proclaimed king at the Øyrating in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denma ...

, while Inge Haraldsson was proclaimed king at the Borgarting in the south-east. Since they had been brought up in different parts of the country, both were proclaimed kings by their respective supporters, but the two factions soon joined forces in light of the threat from Sigurd Slembe. Sigurd Slembe was again outlawed, and in an attempt to increase his support he allied himself with Magnus the Blind, who had been deposed by Harald Gille in 1135, and had him reinstated as king. When he was deposed, Magnus was blinded, castrated, and had one of his feet cut off, after which he had been placed in a monastery. Following his release by Sigurd, he managed to raise an army in the

Uplands Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

by himself, but he was defeated by Harald's sons in the

Battle of Minne A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

and fled to

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. Sigurd also went to Denmark with a small army, and thereafter turned towards raiding the Norwegian coast. Although Sigurd won little support, he gained much loot from the raids, which after a while allowed him to purchase troops in Denmark. Haraldsonnenes saga-Sigurd Slembe hudflettes-W

Haraldsonnenes saga-Sigurd Slembe hudflettes-W

The battle

The fleet of Sigurd Slembe and Magnus the Blind finally met the fleet of the child kings Sigurd and Inge Haraldsson on 12 November 1139, near the island Holmengrå south of

. After the first clash, Sigurd Slembe's contingent from Denmark retreated with their 18 ships, out of Sigurd's fleet of a total 30 ships. The casualties in the battle were heavy. Magnus was struck by a spear and killed along with one of his men, Hreidar Griotgardson, who had attempted to carry the king to safety over to another ship. Sigurd Slembe attempted to escape by jumping in the water and hiding under his shield, but he was captured after being betrayed by one of his men, who told his enemies where Sigurd was in exchange for being spared his life. Sigurd Slembe was executed after the battle following brutal torture and mutilation. Although the chiefs had wanted to execute Sigurd instantly, according to

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

, "the men who were the most cruel, and thought they had injuries to avenge, advised torturing him."''Saga of Sigurd, Inge, and Eystein, the sons of Harald'', chapter 12 Sigurd's arms and calves were crushed with axe-hammers, the skin on his head was cleaved, his back was flayed and flogged, and his spine was broken, after which he was hanged, decapitated, and thrown into a scree of rocks.

References

Bibliography

;Primary sources * Sturluson, Snorri (c. 1230).
Saga of Sigurd, Inge, and Eystein, the sons of Harald
' (in ''Heimskringla''). English translation: Samuel Laing (London, 1844). ;Modern literature * {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Holmengra Holmengrå 1139 in Europe 12th century in Norway Norwegian civil wars Conflicts in 1139