Harald Gille (
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
Haraldr gilli or
Haraldr gillikristr) (1103– 14 December 1136), king of
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, was born in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
. His byname Gille is probably from
Gilla Críst, i.e. servant of Christ.
Around 1127, he went to Norway and declared he was a son of King
Magnus BarefootMagnus Barefoot son of Olaf Kyrre and grandson of Harald Hardrada, was King of Norway from 1093 until 1103 and King of Mann and the Isles from 1099 until 1102...
, who had visited Ireland just before his death in 1103, and consequently a half-brother of the reigning king,
SigurdSigurd I Magnusson , also known as Sigurd Jorsalfare was king of Norway from 1103 to 1130...
.
He appears to have submitted successfully to the ordeal by fire, and the alleged relationship was acknowledged by Sigurd on condition that Harald did not claim any share in the government of the kingdom during his lifetime or that of his son
MagnusMagnus IV , also known as Magnus the Blind and Magnus Sigurdsson, was king of Norway from 1130 to 1135 and again from 1137 to 1139. His period as king marked the beginning of the civil war era in Norway, which lasted until 1240.Magnus was the son of King Sigurd Jorsalfar of Norway and Borghild...
.
Harald Gille (
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
Haraldr gilli or
Haraldr gillikristr) (1103– 14 December 1136), king of
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, was born in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
. His byname Gille is probably from
Gilla Críst, i.e. servant of Christ.
Around 1127, he went to Norway and declared he was a son of King
Magnus BarefootMagnus Barefoot son of Olaf Kyrre and grandson of Harald Hardrada, was King of Norway from 1093 until 1103 and King of Mann and the Isles from 1099 until 1102...
, who had visited Ireland just before his death in 1103, and consequently a half-brother of the reigning king,
SigurdSigurd I Magnusson , also known as Sigurd Jorsalfare was king of Norway from 1103 to 1130...
.
He appears to have submitted successfully to the ordeal by fire, and the alleged relationship was acknowledged by Sigurd on condition that Harald did not claim any share in the government of the kingdom during his lifetime or that of his son
MagnusMagnus IV , also known as Magnus the Blind and Magnus Sigurdsson, was king of Norway from 1130 to 1135 and again from 1137 to 1139. His period as king marked the beginning of the civil war era in Norway, which lasted until 1240.Magnus was the son of King Sigurd Jorsalfar of Norway and Borghild...
. Living on friendly terms with the king, Harald kept this agreement until Sigurd’s death in 1130. Then war broke out between himself and Magnus, and after several battles the latter was captured in 1135, his eyes were put out, and he was thrown into prison.
Harald now ruled the country until 1136, when he was murdered by Sigurd Slembedjakn, another bastard son of Magnus Barefoot.
Harald was married to Ingrid Ragnvaldsdottir, and had a son
IngeInge Haraldsson, old Norse Ingi Haraldsson was king of Norway from 1136 to 1161. Inge’s reign fell within the start of the period known in Norwegian history as the civil war era. He was never the sole ruler of the country. He is often known as Inge the Hunchback , because of his physical disability...
with her. He also had sons with other women:
SigurdSigurd Haraldsson or Sigurd Munn Sigurd Haraldsson or Sigurd Munn Sigurd Haraldsson or Sigurd Munn (old Norse Sigurðr Haraldsson (1133–1155) was king of Norway from 1136 to 1155. He was son of Harald Gille, king of Norway and his mistress Tora Guttormsdotter (Þóra Guthormsdóttir). He ruled as...
,
EysteinEystein Haraldsson , born c 1125 apparently in Scotland, died 1157 in Bohuslän, Norway, was king of Norway from 1142 to 1157. He ruled as co-ruler with his brothers, Inge Haraldsson and Sigurd Munn...
and Magnus. All four sons were subsequently kings of Norway.
Approximately from his accession to the throne, the civil wars period of
Norwegian historyHistory of human settlement in what is present day Norway goes back at least 11,000 years, to the late Paleolithic. Archaeological finds in the county of Møre og Romsdal have been dated to 9,200 BCE and are probably the remains of settlers from Doggerland, an area now submerged in the North Sea,...
started, that lasted from 1130 to 1217. 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 two main parties, firstly known by varying names or no names at all, but finally condensed into parties of
BaglerThe Bagli Party or Bagler was a faction or party during the Norwegian Civil Wars. It was formed in Skåne, then part of Denmark, in 1196 around the pretender Inge Magnusson to depose king Sverre Sigurdsson....
and
BirkebeinerThe Birkebein Party or Birkebeinar was the name for a rebellious party in Norway, formed in 1174 around the pretender Eystein Meyla. The name has its origins in propaganda from the opposing party that the rebels were so poor that they made their shoes of birch bark...
. 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.