Magnus Erlingsson ( non, Magnús Erlingsson, 1156 – 15 June 1184) was a

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 kingd ...

(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

primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

in royal succession in Norway. King Magnus was killed in the Battle of Fimreite in 1184 against the forces of Sverre Sigurdsson who became King of Norway.

Biography

Magnus Erlingsson was probably born in Etne in

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipa ...

. He was the son of Erling Skakke, a Norwegian nobleman who earned his reputation crusading with Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, the earl of Orkney. Magnus's mother, Kristin, was the daughter of Sigurd the Crusader, who was the

from 1103 to 1130. Magnus Erlingsson was named king in 1161 at the age of five. He was the first Norwegian king to be crowned. His father Erling took the title of

earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant " chieftain", particu ...

and held the real power since Magnus was a minor. Erling Skakke continued to be the country’s real ruler even after Magnus had come of age. In 1166, Sigurd Agnhatt and his foster son Olav Ugjæva raised a force in

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The c ...

, and had Olav proclaimed king, while Earl Erling Skakke was away in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. Olav was the son of Maria Øysteinsdotter, the daughter of former King Øystein Magnusson. After Erling returned to Norway to fight this uprising, Olav and his men attacked Erling in an ambush at Rydjokul in

Sørum Sørum was a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Sørumsand. Sørum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 ( ...

. Erling was wounded and barely escaped. In 1168 Olav and his men ventured south to the

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the N ...

area, but were there defeated in battle at Stanger in Våler. Sigurd was killed in the battle, but Olav escaped and went to Denmark. Magnus' reign saw the arrival in Norway of Sverre Sigurdsson, who claimed the throne for himself as an allegedly illegitimate son of a previous king. In June 1177, Sverre first led his men to

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 ...

where Sverre was proclaimed as king. Erling's position was compromised and he fell at the

Battle of Kalvskinnet 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 ...

outside

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 ...

in 1179. Several more years of warfare ended with Magnus' defeat and death in the Battle of Fimreite on June 15, 1184. Sverre attacked Magnus' fleet sending his ships into battle in squadrons, to charge and overwhelm on one ship at a time, forcing the Magnus' men to jump over to the next. As the battle proceeded, the remaining ships became extremely crammed, and then started to go down because of the weight. King Magnus is reported to have gone down on one of the last of them.''Magnus V Erlingsson'' (Family Links)

Historic context

The civil war era in Norway would not end with the victory of Sverre over Magnus. After the death of Magnus, Sigurd Magnusson, Inge Magnusson and Erling Magnusson Steinvegg came forth all stating to be sons of Magnus and claiming the Norwegian throne. The civil war era in Norway extended over a 110-year period. It started with the death of King

Sigurd I of Norway Sigurd Magnusson (1089 – 26 March 1130), also known as Sigurd the Crusader (Old Norse: ''Sigurðr Jórsalafari'', Norwegian: ''Sigurd Jorsalfar''), was King of Norway (being Sigurd I) from 1103 to 1130. His rule, together with his half-broth ...

in 1130 and ended with the death of Duke

Skule Baardsson The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering is an academic division of the University of Toronto devoted to study and research in engineering. Founded in 1873 as the ''School of Practical Science'', it is still known today by the longtime nic ...

in 1240. During this period there were several interlocked conflicts of varying scale and intensity. The background for these conflicts was 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 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, cler ...

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.

References

Other sources

*Snorre Sturlason, ''The Heimskringla: A History of the Norse Kings, vol. 3'' (London: Norroena Society, 1907) *Finlay, Alison editor and translator ''Fagrskinna, a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway'' (Brill Academic. 2004) * Gjerset, Knut ''History of the Norwegian People'' (The MacMillan Company, Volume I. 1915) *Heggland, Johannes ''Den unge kongen'' (Eide Forlag, 1999) Norwegian {{DEFAULTSORT:Magnus 5 1156 births 1184 deaths 12th-century Norwegian monarchs People from Etne Norwegian civil wars Monarchs killed in action Medieval child rulers Norwegian military personnel killed in the Norwegian civil wars House of Hardrada