Tønsberg Fortress (''Tunsberghus festning'') was a medieval fortress and castle, located in

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative c ...

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 the ...

which was defended by the fortress for over 300 years. It includes ruins from ''Castrum Tunsbergis'', Norway's largest castle in the 13th century, originally built by King Håkon IV, the grandson of King Sverre.

History

Dating in 871, Tønsberg is commonly believed to have been the oldest Norwegian town and one of the oldest recorded fortified locations in Norway. According to Snorri Sturluson, Tønsberg was founded before the

Battle of Hafrsfjord The Battle of Hafrsfjord ( no, Slaget i Hafrsfjord) was a great naval battle fought in Hafrsfjord sometime between 872 and 900 that resulted in the unification of Norway, later known as the Kingdom of Norway. After the battle, the victorious Vikin ...

under which King Harald I of Norway united Norway under his rule. Tønsberg was an important trading center and site of the

Haugating Haugating was a Thing in medieval Norway. Haugating served as an assembly for the regions around Vestfold and the area west of Oslofjord. It was located at Tønsberg in Vestfold, Norway. Background Although it was not as recognized national ...

, the

Thing (assembly) A thing, german: ding, ang, þing, enm, thing. (that is, "assembly" or folkmoot) was a governing assembly in early Germanic society, made up of the free people of the community presided over by a lawspeaker. Things took place at regular i ...

for

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

and one of Norway's most important places for the proclamation of kings. In the 13th century, King Haakon Haakonson built a castle, ''Tunsberghus'', at the location of the modern Tønsberg municipality. It was located at what was formerly one of the most important harbors in Norway. The castle was greatly expanded during the reigns of

Håkon Håkonsson 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

Magnus Lagabøte Magnus Haakonsson ( non, Magnús Hákonarson, no, Magnus Håkonsson, label=Modern Norwegian; 1 (or 3) May 1238 – 9 May 1280) was King of Norway (as Magnus VI) from 1263 to 1280 (junior king from 1257). One of his greatest achievements was the m ...

, who added large walls,

towers A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

, residential halls and a church. The last king of a fully independent Norway,

Håkon V Magnusson Haakon V Magnusson (10 April 1270 – 8 May 1319) ( non, Hákon Magnússon; no, Håkon Magnusson, label=Modern Norwegian) was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319. Biography Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, Kin ...

, died at the castle in 1319. Only a few ruins of the fortress remain today. The modern-day tower (''Slottsfjellet i Tønsberg'') was raised in 1888 as a memorial of the historic fortress. In 1971, local authorities improved the insulation. At that time new plaques were mounted inside the tower. On the sides are the gilded signatures of three modern Kings of Norway:

Haakon VII Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick ...

(1 August 1906),

Olav V Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Norw ...

(1 July 1958) and

Harald V Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the li ...

(9 March 1992). The plaque over the entrance reads:

Chronology

*871 - The commercial town of Tunsberg existed. It served as a stronghold for the

Ynglings The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...

, who first came to power in

in this period. * 11th century - The commercial town and fortress at Tunsberg, on 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 Nor ...

outdistanced

Skiringssal Skiringssal (Old Norse ''Skíringssalr'') was the name of a Viking Age hall which stood at a site now known as Huseby, about 0.73 miles (1.2 km) south-west of Tjølling, a settlement a little over east of Larvik, in the south of the ...

as a trading center. * 1201 -

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 ...

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 ...

from 1177–1202, was attacked in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

by combined forces from the

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 ...

Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the part of the Göta cana ...

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

and Tunsberg. Although they outnumbered Sverre's forces, they were defeated by Sverre's superior tactics. One of their ablest leaders, Reidar Sendemann, took refuge in the heights of Tunsberg mountain. In September 1201, Sverre lay siege with a force of 1000 men, forcing their surrender after 5 months. Unfortunately for Sverre, he took ill in the siege and returned to

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 o ...

only to die later in 1202. *1253 - Haakon Haakonsson, king 1217-1263, constructed a castellated wall around the mountain and provided support buildings within the fortification. *1253 - Successfully resisted attack by

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

forces. *1261 - Magnus Lagabøter, king of Norway 1263-1280, brought his bride Ingeborg of Denmark to live in the castle. *1319 -

Haakon V Magnusson Haakon V Magnusson (10 April 1270 – 8 May 1319) ( non, Hákon Magnússon; no, Håkon Magnusson, label=Modern Norwegian) was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319. Biography Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, Kin ...

, king 1299-1319, the last of the Harald-lineage (''Haralds-ætten'') lay ill and died at Tønsberghus. *1335 - Magnus Eriksson, king from 1319–1374, was wedded here to Blanche of Namur, who received the castle as a gift from her husband. *1387 - When the castles were no longer occupied by Norwegian royalty, the most important lords were the governors of the four chief Norwegian fortresses, Tønsberghus, Akershus, Båhus, and

Bergenhus Bergenhus is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. This borough encompasses the city centre and is the most urbanized area of the whole city. The borough has a population (2014) of 40,606. This gives Bergenhus a popula ...

. *1503 - As the Kalmar Union collapsed, Norwegian attempts to rebel were suppressed by Danish forces. Tunsberghus fortress was destroyed by Swedish soldiers and disloyal local peasants. *1856 - Tønsberg Maritime Club built a wooden watchtower which burnt down in 1874. *1888 - Tunsberg Slottsfjellet, the present tower was built. Slottsfjellmuseet 2

Slottsfjellet Museum

Slottsfjell Museum (''Slottsfjellsmuseet'') was established in 1939 as the Vestfold Fylkesmuseum. It is now an associate of Vestfold Museum (''Vestfoldmuseene''). The exhibitions in the museum present Vestfold's cultural history with particular, emphasis placed on whaling and shipping, urban and

rural history In historiography, rural history is a field of study focusing on the history of societies in rural areas. At its inception, the field was based on the economic history of agriculture. Since the 1980s it has become increasingly influenced by social ...

in Vestfold to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

References

Other sources

* Gjerset, Knut ''History of the Norwegian Peoples'' (MacMillan, 1915) *Larson, Karen ''A History of Norway'' (Princeton University Press, 1948)

External links

TunsberghusSlottsfjellsmuseet website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonsberg Fortress Tønsberg Buildings and structures in Vestfold og Telemark Castles in Norway Forts in Norway Military installations in Vestfold og Telemark