Inge Magnusson (1176 - 1202)

Born 1176 in Bergen, Hordaland, Norway

Ancestors

Died 1202 at about age 26 in Nord-Aurdal, Oppland, Norge

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Biography

Inge Magnusson or Inge Baglar-king was from 1196 to 1202 the Bagler candidate for pretender to the Norwegian throne during the Civil war era in Norway.

Inge enters Norway history 1196. Along with the exiled bishop Nikolaus Arnesson and a large amount of Norwegians he came to Haløre market in Skåne. Here they traveled revolt against Sverre Sigurdsson. Inge, claimed he was the son of Magnus Erlingsson, and was chosen king. Birkebeiners claimed in turn that Inge was Danish and called Torgils Tuveskitt. Beyond symbolic meaning, Inge, was still a child, and played a central role in the erection of bagler following. In 1197, a serious challenge to the reign of King Sverre of Norway arose. Several prominent opponents of Sverre, including bishop Nikolas Arnesson of Oslo, who had been a half brother of King Inge I of Norway and exiled archbishop Erik Ivarsson met at the marketplace of Halör in Skåne, then part of Denmark. They took Inge Magnusson, purported son of King Magnus V of Norway as their figurehead-king. Their party was called the Bagler, from an Old Norse word meaning crosier. The war between the Bagler, with the open support of the Church, and the Birkebeiner, was to last for the rest of the reign of King Sverre.

Inge Magnusson was with the Bagler party when they took Nidaros in January 1198. They stayed through the spring, and Inge was given the royal title at the Thing. The Baglers established themselves in the Viken area, which was both the bishopric of Nikolas Arnesson and the former power base of King Magnus V. On 18 June 1199, the two fleets met at the naval Battle of Strindafjord (Slaget på Strindfjorden). Here Sverre won a crushing victory and the surviving Baglers fled. From January 1200, Inge is consistently described as one of Bagler leaders. Inge died during 1202, the same year as his rival King Sverre.

At Sverre's death was according Bǫglunga sǫgur Inge controlled the Uplands, and that his men also had dominion over the land along the coast of Sogn og Fjordane and Møre. But, after fighting in western Norway with the aftermath Sverres death drew Baglers back to Eastern Norway. During the summer and autumn of 1202 Inge's men still pursued the Uplands, but their numbers decreased for each day, more and more people began to follow King Hakon Sverresson. That same summer Inge lost his support from the church. Archbishop Eirik and other bishops who had followed Baglers, reconciled now with Håkon.

King Inge held on to Storøya in the lake with many people. Inge was betrayed and killed by some of his own men at Storøya outside Fagernes. His last fight did not portray him as a man who remained in the background, but one that even led his men in valiant battle. When Baglers were told of their king's fall they fled away and the following was dissolved.

Sources

• Sverre's saga overs. by D. Gundersen, the Norwegian sagas, Vol. 3, 1979
• The saga of Baglers and birkebeiner, spare. F. Hødnebø, ibid.
• Soga about BIRKEBEINER and Baglar. Bǫglunga sǫgur, ed. H. Magerøy, Norse texts 5, Vol. 1, 1988
• RN, bd.1
• K. Helle: Approximately Bǫglungasǫgur, UiB Yearbook. Hist.-antiquarian. rk. 1958 no. 7, 1958
• O. Fjordholm: "seal of Inge, by the grace of God king of Norway," the Collegium Medievale no. 1-2 / 1996, p. 73-113
• Helle, Knit (1958) Omkring Boglungasogur (Bergen, NO: A. S. John Griegs)
• Orning, Hans Jacob (2008) Unpredictability and Presence: Norwegian Kingship in the High Middle Ages (BRILL) ISBN 9789004166615
• Bagge, Sverre (2012) From Viking Stronghold to Christian Kingdom: State Formation in Norway, c. 900-1350 (Museum Tusculanum Press) ISBN 9788763507912
• https://nbl.snl.no/Inge_Magnusson
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inge_Magnusson

Notes

In the Norwegian Civil War several royal sons fought against each other for power in Norway. The civil wars period of Norwegian history lasted from 1130 to 1240. After these two parties were reconciled in 1217, a more ordered system of government centered around the king was gradually able to bring an end to the frequent risings. 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 the king from the contesting party. The failed rising of duke Skule Bårdsson in 1240 was the final event of the civil war era

Inge II Magnusson was a member of the aristocracy in Europe.