Eystein Meyla () was elected a rival king of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

during the Norwegian Civil War period.

Biography

Eystein was son of King Eystein II Haraldsson. His nickname ''Møyla'' means maiden, girl, cute woman. His father was king of Norway from 1142 to 1157, ruling as co-ruler with his brothers, Inge Haraldsson and Sigurd II Munn. Eystein II was killed in 1157 during the power-struggle against his brother, Inge, in an early stage of the

civil war era in Norway The civil war era in Norway (, ''borgarkrigstidi'', ''borgerkrigstida'' or ''borgerkrigstiden'') began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders waged wars to claim the throne. ...

. After the death of Eystein II, his supporters first rallied around the young Haakon II the Broadshouldered, Sigurd Munn's son and Eystein's nephew. Haakon was defeated and killed by Jarl

Erling Skakke Erling Ormsson (1115 – 18 June 1179), known as Erling Skakke, was a Norwegian Jarl during the 12th century. He was the father of Magnus Erlingsson, who reigned as King of Norway from 1161 to 1184. Biography Erling Ormsson was born at Etne in ...

at Sekken near the town of

Veøya Veøya is an island in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located at a junction of the three main branches of Romsdal Fjord between the island of Sekken and the mainland near the village of Nesjestranda. The island ...

Romsdalen Romsdalen is a valley in the western part of Norway. The long valley runs from the Romsdalsfjorden through Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county and into Lesja Municipality in Innlandet county. It is the valley of the Rauma (river), Rau ...

during 1162. Magnus Erlingssons saga-Slaget paa Re-Werenskiold

The

Birkebeiner The Birkebein Party or Birkebeinar (; (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 propaganda from the establ ...

were formed in 1174 around Eystein Meyla. The Birkebeiner took the city of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

and proclaimed Eystein to be king at the Øretinget

Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...

by the mouth of the river

Nidelva Nidelva is a river in Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. The name of the long river translates to "the River Nid" since the suffix ''elva'' is the Norwegian language, Norwegian word for "the river". Location The Nidelva starts at the Hytt ...

in during 1176. Eystein Meyla and the party of Birkebeins subsequently arose in rebellion against Erling Skakke and his young son Magnus Erlingsson who reigned as King

Magnus V of Norway Magnus Erlingsson (, 1156 – 15 June 1184), also known as Magnus V, was a king of Norway during the civil war era in Norway. He helped to establish primogeniture in royal succession in Norway. King Magnus was killed in the Battle of Fimreite in ...

from 1161–1184. In January 1177, the Birkebeiners met a crushing defeat at the Battle of Re in

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

. Eystein escaped the battle alive, but was killed by a farmer when he tried to ask for grið (mercy). The battle was the last one mentioned in ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

'' by

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 ...

. Sverre Sigurdsson became the Birkebeiners’ next leader. As King

Sverre I Sverre Sigurdsson () (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 known as the Birkebeiner ...

, he would rule as king of Norway from 1184 until his death in 1202.''Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway'' (Snorri Sturluson; translator Lee M. Hollander. University of Texas Press. repr. 1991)

Historic overview

In the period of civil wars, it was usual for several royal sons to war against each other over power in Norway. The civil war era of

Norwegian history The history of Norway has been influenced to an extraordinary degree by the terrain and the climate of the region. About 10,000 BC, following the retreat inland of the great ice sheets, the earliest inhabitants migrated north into the territor ...

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 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, cle ...

and

. 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.

Sources

The primary sources of information regarding Øystein Øysteinsson Møyla are ''

Fagrskinna ''Fagrskinna'' ( ; ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of parchment) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is assumed to be a source for what is known as the '' Heimskringla'', containing histories of Norwegian kings from the 9th ...

'', ''

'' and ''

Sverris saga ''Sverris saga'' is one of the Kings' sagas. Its subject is King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway (r. 1177–1202) and it is the main source for this period of Norwegian history. As the foreword tells us, the saga in its final form consists of mo ...

''.

References

Other sources

* Finlay, Alison, editor and translator, ''Fagrskinna, a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway'' (Brill Academic. 2004) * Gathorne-Hardy, Geoffrey Malcolm, ''A royal impostor: King Sverre of Norway'' (London: Oxford University Press. 1956) * Røsoch, Henry, ''Trondheim's History'' (Trondheim: F. Bruns Bokhandel. 1939) {{DEFAULTSORT:Eystein Meyla 1177 deaths Civil wars in Norway Pretenders to the Norwegian throne 12th-century murdered monarchs Year of birth unknown 12th-century Norwegian monarchs House of Gille Sons of kings

Biography

Historic overview

Sources

See also

References

Other sources